Simona Halep’s the 2022 National Bank Open champion. The Romanian defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in Sunday’s final, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 after over two hours of play to clinch the title in Toronto. This is the third time Halep’s won the title in the Canadian tournament although she won the trophy in the Montreal edition on the first two occasions.
As in her semi-final against Jessica Pegula, Halep struggled with her serve. She hit nine double faults against the Brazilian while the latter had merely two for the match. Nonetheless, Halep won 65% of her first-serve points to Haddad Maia’s 61%. Halep saved five of the nine break points she faced while converting five break points she had on Haddad Maia’s serve.
National Bank Open: Simona Halep’s constancy
Talking about the match, following her victory, Halep said, “It’s never easy to play against (Haddad Maia). She beat me a few weeks ago. … I knew that it was going to be a good challenge and a good fight. So, it’s been a battle today, and I’m really happy that I could actually be stronger in the important moments.”
This was the fourth time the two had faced each other and after this meeting, Halep holds a 3-1 win-to-loss record against the lefthander. In terms of titles won, this was the 30-year-old’s 24th career title. It’s also the ninth WTA 1000 title she’s won, having reached 18 finals in totality.
Winning the National Bank Open title also meant that Simona Halep made a re-entry into the top-10 of the WTA singles rankings on 15th August. After having first entered the top-10 of the rankings in 2014, Halep conceded a top-10 spot in 2021, after almost eight years on the tour. Meanwhile, the Toronto final trip ensured that Beatriz Haddad Maia had a breakthrough in the top-20 of the WTA rankings, in the 16th spot.
Photo Credit: WTA Twitter