Halep Victorious In Prague, Beats Mertens For 21st WTA Title
Simona Halep made a successful return to tennis capturing her 21st career WTA title Sunday beating Elise Mertens 6-2, 7-5 in the Prague final.
After consecutive three set wins in the two opening rounds, the top seed didn’t drop a set in her last three matches en route to her second title of 2020.
“I’m very pleased about the way I was adjusting my game to her game,” said Halep. “At the beginning I was hitting too strong, too flat and she was quicker than me and playing closer to the baseline. I tried to change the rhythm, played a little bit higher and further from her body, and it was much better.”
Halep was up a break 4-2 in the second but could hold the lead.
“I was tired, I couldn’t move very well – but again today mentally I was really strong, and that’s why I was able to win in two sets,” she said.
The 28-year-old will now weigh her decision on playing the US Open over the next 24 hours. She will not be playing Cincinnati.
“I was a little worried at the beginning but here we felt very safe,” Halep said. “And all the restrictions and rules were respected – we can do tournaments like this week, I feel it’s a big chance for us to participate again. It’s very different and a little stressful and we have to adjust ourselves, but the fact that everyone was good these 10 days means that everything was really well done.”
ACTIVE WTA TITLE LEADERS
Serena Williams 73
Venus Williams 49
Kim Clijsters 41
Petra Kvitova 27
Simona Halep 21
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