WTA Prague: Simona Halep beats Elise Mertens and takes the title
As expected, Simona Halep secured the title at the WTA event in Prague. The top seeded Romanian defeated Elise Mertens 6: 2 and 7: 5 in the final.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 16, 2020, 03:18 pm
Simona Halep was able to improve from round to round at this WTA event. After the Romanian had to fight surprisingly hard in her first two appearances, the top seeded Romanian showed herself in excellent shape in the quarter and semi-finals. In the final, Halep faced third-placed Belgian Elise Mertens, who showed strong nerves in her semifinals in two tiebreaks.
The final can be understood as a reflection of the entire Halep tournament, because here too the favorite made a cold start. The Romanian suffered an early break and was quickly 2-0 down. The world number two caught up quickly, won seven games en suite. Only a few minutes later it was 6: 2 and 1: 0 for Halep.
But that was no reason for Elise Mertens to give up, the Belgian won her first game after losing seven games in a row and a little later also took the lead in set two. A rebellion that shouldn't last too long. Mertens was able to make the second set much more open than the first round, but when the score was 5: 5, the Belgian conceded the break again and a few moments later had to watch Halep close the bag on his own serve.
For Simona Halep it is the first triumph in the first tournament after the COVID-19 interruption of the WTA tour. The Romanian should actually have returned to the tour in Palermo, but a back and forth about a possible quarantine when entering Italy moved the second in the world rankings to cancel her start in Palermo. Now, a week later, Halep has successfully returned to the tour.