Halep battles past Maia to claim Toronto title

WTATorontoSimona Halep prevailed over first-time WTA 1000 finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia to win her third National Bank Open title, and the 24th Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career.Former World No.1 Halep stamped her return to the Top 10 with authority, as the Romanian claimed the title at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for the third time in her career on Sunday.The 2016 and 2018 champion Halep ended the run of first-time WTA 1000 finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the championship match, prevailing 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 after an intense 2 hours and 16 minutes to capture her 24th career Hologic WTA Tour singles title.With her latest victory in Canada, Halep has won a tournament three times for the first time in her career. However, this is Halep’s first triumph in Toronto – her previous National Bank Open titles came at the Montreal site.WTA 1000 expert: Halep has 185 match-wins at WTA 1000 tournaments, more than any other player. She has reached 18 WTA 1000 finals, tied with Serena Williams for the most finals since this level was introduced in 2009.But this was Halep’s first WTA 1000 final since she won the 2020 Rome title just under two years ago. Despite that gap, Halep proved her experience at that level was second to none, holding off the surging Haddad Maia and improving to 3-1 against the Brazilian.Tale of the match: In the closely-contested affair, Halep had two fewer winners than Haddad Maia, but she also had four fewer unforced errors despite nine double faults. Halep gritted out the victory after converting five of her 10 break points; Haddad Maia was 4-for-9.