As many as four Romanians played in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, but only Simona Halep reached the last four and today the sixth seed lifted the champion’s trophy by beating Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-4 in the final of the tournament owned by former Romanian ATP player Ion Tiriac and visited by numerous Romanian tennis fans.
In the first set, the seventh-ranked Halep capitalized on both her break points, while Cibulkova converted none of her three. One break in the second set was enough for Halep to defeat Cibulkova, as the Slovak had spent over four hours longer on court than the Romanian en route to making her first Premier Mandatory final.
Halep’s prize includes 912,000 EUR in prize money and 1,000 ranking points which will bring her back to the Top 5. (photo: Jimmie48)
