Tennis News : Simona Halep beats Beatriz Haddad Maia and wins in Toronto

The Romanian had previously won the title in 2016 and 2018 when it went by the title Rogers Cup. It marks the 24th title of Halep's career and the first one with Patrick Mouratoglou as her coach.

The 26-year-old Brazilian, Haddad Maia, still awaits her moment of glory as she stands deprived of a tournament win of this level. However, she has jumped up the WTA Tour's standings this year.

She overcame seeded players at the National Bank Open, which included 13th-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Laval, 4th-seeded Karolina Pliskova, and world number one Iga Swiatek. 

In 2021, Haddad Maia was ranked 183rd in the world but walked into this week's tournament as number 24 and will enter the top 20 next week.

Halep picked up pace after a poor start

Halep was trailing 3-0 in the opening set, which made her scream at herself. Some Brazilian fans started to chant Haddad Maia's name to cheer her on. 

Shortly after, their voices disappeared under the weight of Romanian fans' support and vocal enthusiasm.

The chanting psyched her up, and an elusive forehand return on a set point brought in six consecutive games for Halep as she rallied to win the first set.

Haddad Maia quickly overcame Halep's shocking comeback to begin the second set and won the first two games. She added two more against Halep to take a 4-0 lead.

Although Halep won a game back, she failed to close the gap, and the younger Brazilian regained her momentum, which helped her take the score to 5-1.

Halep won another game before Haddad Maia served for the second set. Haddad Maia won three more points to establish a 40-15 advantage, and then she converted the set point pushing the match into a decisive third and final set.

The third set opened in favour of the Romanian

The decider proceeded with Halep scoring her first set opening game winner and taking a 2-0 lead. However, Haddad Maia's response to her opponent's forehand went long. 

After that, Halep's overhand smash at the net took her closer to the title as the score read 5-2. Haddad Maia persisted and won another game to make it 5-3. Her high backhanded volley dropped in for a point.

Halep then played the last game of the match, where she converted a 40-15 advantage and clinched her first title in Toronto as Haddad Maia struck her return into the net.

Meanwhile, Pablo Carreno Busta outclassed eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in a nail-biting three-setter 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Follow all of today's Tennis matches on our Live Match Centre