Romanian world No.1 Simona Halep won a rematch of the Roland Garros final by defeating American Sloane Stephens 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Halep took a thrilling first set in a tiebreak after three breaks of serve apiece, but lost the second set in which she won only 54% of points on first serve and 17% on second, before recovering in the decider, another hard-fought set.
After the loss, Stephens shared an inspirational message on Twitter:
I played my heart out, left everything out on the court and never gave up. You win or you learn, but you never lose.
This is Halep’s second Rogers Cup title in the last three years, while the third-ranked Stephens reached the Rogers Cup final for the first time, after having made the semifinals last year in Toronto to jump-start her summer that culminated with winning the US Open title.
En route to the Premier 5 title and $519,480 in prize money, after a first-round bye, Halep defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round, seed No.13 Venus Williams in the third round, sixth seed Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals, 15th seed Ashleigh Barty in the semis, and finally the third-seeded Stephens.
Halep’s winning apparel: the green Nike Fall Dry Slam Tank and the navy Nike Women’s Fall Victory Skirt.
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Love Them both. Such great examples of sportsmanship and women supporting each other! Classy ladies! Happy for Halep!