Halep defeats Keys to win Rogers Cup title
Posted Jul 31, 2016 02:40:34 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL — Simona Halep of Romania defeated error-prone American Madison Keys 7-6 (2), 6-3 to win the US$4.7 million women’s Rogers Cup on Sunday.
Halep, seeded fifth, rebounded from losing to Belinda Bencic in the final a year ago. It was the Romanian’s third tournament win this year and the 14th of her career. She won $497,700 while Keys took home $241,840.
With the victory, Halep will jump to third in WTA rankings. She has won 10 consecutive matches including a victory at her home tournament two weeks ago in Bucharest.
Spurred by a strong contingent of Romanian fans at Uniprix Stadium, Halep outlasted 10th-seeded Keys in a messy first set and then dominated the second in a one-hour, 16-minute hardcourt match in warm, sunny weather.
The first set had eight service breaks in 12 games — four apiece — before Halep took over in the tiebreaker and then went up 3-0 to start the second, which included one game that saw Keys put an easy volley into the net on break point. That break was enough to see Halep through the second set and take the Rogers Cup title for the first time.
Keys has the more powerful serve, but the 21-year-old struggled to get in her first attempts. That played to Halep’s strength as a strong rallier and baseline player. Keys repeatedly ended rallies with shots into the net as Halep patiently kept the ball in play.
Keys, a Rock Island, Ill., native who has been hot of late with 21 wins in her last 25 matches, will climb to ninth in the world, equalling her career best ranking.
Halep is also in the doubles final with compatriot Monica Niculescu to be played later Sunday against Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Visnina. She will attempt to be the first to sweep both titles at the Rogers Cup in the same year since Martina Hingis in 2000.
