.jpg)
At last the Tennis women's World No. 1 Simona Halep is now a Grand Slam title holder.
She did this in grandstyle at Roland Garros, when she defeated American Sloane Stephens, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. on Saturday.
After three losses in previous finals, Halep added Grand Slam trophy No. 1 to her No. 1 ranking, when she returned from a set and a break down to beat Sloane Stephens to win the French Open championship crown.
The 26-year-old Halep lost in two previous appearances in a final at Roland Garros, against Maria Sharapova in 2014 and Jelena Ostapenko in 2017.
Halep then fell to 0-3 with a trophy on the line at the Australian Open in January, beaten by Caroline Wozniacki.
And when Saturday's fourth chance came, Halep started slowly against Sloane Stephens, the 10th-seeded American who won her first Grand Slam title at last year's U.S. Open.
When Halep ended a 14-stroke point by pushing a backhand wide, Stephens owned the first set. She wheeled toward her box, which included U.S. national soccer team player Jozy Altidore, and shook a fist. Not much after that, Stephens broke to begin the second set, then held for a 2-0 lead. It appeared she was on her way.
In the next set, Stephens began to make mistakes giving Halep 15 of the 18 points and four games in a row. The player who was up a set and 3-0 in the second in last year's final at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament was now the one able to dismiss a deficit.
Halep became the first woman from Romania to claim a Grand Slam title since her current manager, Virginia Ruzici, won the French Open 40 years ago.
When the match was over, Halep dropped her racket at the baseline and covered her face with her hands. Soon enough, she was climbing up into the stands to share a big hug with her coach, Darren Cahill.
He had threatened to stop working with her, saying that Halep's negative body language and attitude were standing in her way.
Perhaps he was correct. This much is certain: Simona Halep is a Grand Slam champion, now and forever.
Courtesy of AP
