Simona Halep won her third National Bank Open title, but it was the former No. 1's first in Toronto. The two-time Grand Slam champion described afterward why that was special to her.
After a slow start to her partnership with Serena Williams's former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, Halep built some momentum during the grass-court season. She reached the Nottingham Open, Bad Homburg Open, and Wimbledon semifinals.
It seemed like the Romanian may have lost after retiring from her second-round match at the Citi Open in Washington against Anna Kalinskaya because of the extreme heat in the American capital.
However, that did not prove to be the case. Halep stormed to the final with victories against Donna Vekic, Shau Zhang, Jil Teichmann, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula.
Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated Halep in the Nottingham Open semifinal in June, was Halep's opponent in the final. But the 30-year-old proved too strong this time, beating the Brazilian 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to win a third National Bank Open title.
After the match, Halep said the number of Romanians in Toronto who came and supported her made winning the tournament in the city very special.
"It makes it even more special because I really wanted to win it in Toronto as well. Here there are many Romanians and they always come to support me. So I'm really happy that I could also win here."
Her victory in the final against Haddad Maia also secured Halep's return to the top 10. The Romanian's struggles at the start of the season made that even more notable.
"I feel like it's a big deal to be back in the Top 10. When I started the year I was not very confident and I set the goal to be, at the end of the year, Top 10. And here I am. So it's a very special moment. I will enjoy it. I will give myself credit. I'm just dreaming for more."
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