Making up for her loss in last year's final to Petra Kvitova, the clay court triumph ensured the Dutchwoman Bertens will move to a career-best fourth in the world rankings. Bertens came back from 4-2 down in the first set against French Open champion Halep by winning the next three games, striking the first blow in a gripping final full of drama which lasted one hour and 27 minutes. Roland-Garros ‘Fills me with sadness’ - Halep withdraws from French Open 21/05/2021 AT 10:14 Bertens, who hit four aces among her 25 winners in an excellent performance, got off to an ideal start in the opening game of the second by breaking Halep, who was playing in her third Madrid final after triumphs in 2016 and 2017. The Romanian stayed in contention but was dealt a terrible dose of luck in the eighth game which handed more momentum to Bertens. A shot from Bertens was heading way out and would have handed Halep two break points but the wayward ball struck the Romanian's body, earning her opponent a fortuitous point that eventually led to her holding serve. Bertens earned her first championship point with a scorching ace but Halep saved it with a drop volley at the net, only to then hand her rival another one by finding the net with a careless shot. Bertens missed out again but earned a third championship point when Halep narrowly missed the baseline and she finally seized her ninth WTA title when the world number two hit a backhand out. It was Bertens' fourth victory over a Grand Slam winner during the week on her way to the title. "At the beginning I was a little bit searching for my game still, but I think the rest of the match I played really solid, really smart," Bertens told a news conference. "Maybe a little bit lucky like on the 4-3 game when I hit the ball in the fence and it hit her but sometimes you need a little luck. I'm just happy how I was able to finish the match." "I just feel really happy. I am really proud of this week. I played some good tennis and will be number four in the world on Monday, it is just all amazing things," Bertens added. Halep had no complaints, congratulating her opponent while admitting she played into Bertens' hands. "She played better tennis tonight. She deserved to win the match, definitely," she said. "I think I played wrong, and I'm upset about that. I played stupidly today, I did everything that she liked. It was a good match from her. And she deserved to win the title because she played really good tennis throughout the whole week." ATP Rome Injuries, upsets and champions rising - What did we learn from Italian Open? 16/05/2021 AT 23:14<doc-sep>Simona Halep missed the chance to reclaim the world number one ranking on Saturday after the Netherlands' Kiki Bertens pulled off a surprise 6-4, 6-4 victory to win the Madrid Open. Halep could have knocked Naomi Osaka off the top spot with a triumph in the Spanish capital but instead it is Bertens who makes history, becoming the highest-ranked Dutchwoman ever by climbing to world number four. Bertens secured her ninth WTA singles title, as well as a check for 1.2million euros, while her success should make amends for last year's disappointment in Madrid, when she lost in the final to Petra Kvitova. Halep was chasing her third success in four years in this tournament but delivered the sort of patchy, disgruntled display that has hindered her before with a trophy in sight. But Bertens more than played her part, a deserving winner and on this evidence, a serious contender later this month at the French Open, where she reached the semi-final in 2016 only to be stopped by Serena Williams. Halep is the reigning champion in Roland Garros but has struggled at major tournaments since her debut victory last year. The 27-year-old has failed to go past the fourth round in any of the three Grand Slams since. After an early exchange of breaks, Halep moved 4-2 clear in the opening set only to lose her rhythm as Bertens came storming back. Four games won in a row, including a booming backhand down the line for 5-4, helped Bertens claim the first set before a brilliant lob set up a break in the opening game of the second. Halep finally stemmed the tide by winning her first game in seven, a curling forehand clipping the line, and then she broke for 2-2 as a Bertens backhand drifted wide. A more aggressive approach was paying dividends for Halep but it was high-risk too and when the Romanian blasted out in the very next game, Bertens was back up a break. Halep battled back to 4-3 but looked beaten when a series of gutsy retrievals saw Bertens fluff her smash, only for the ball to smack Halep full on the thigh, three feet behind the baseline. Bertens survived a tight game to lead 5-3 but was made to serve out after Halep held. A big serve set up one match point, which Halep saved with a diving volley. A second came and went too but Bertens finally converted the third, Halep failing to reach a drop-shot and giving her opponent the chance to celebrate.<doc-sep>Third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania is back in the championship match of the Mutua Madrid Open after recording a 6-2, 6-7 (2) 6-0 victory over Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in Friday's semifinals. Halep will be looking to win the event for the third time when she faces Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the final. The seventh-seeded Bertens defeated American Sloane Stephens, the No. 8 seed, 6-2, 7-5 in the other semifinal. Halep won in Madrid in 2016 and 2017 and is in title match for the fourth time. She finished off unseeded Bencic of Switzerland in 1 hour, 57 minutes. "It is normal at this level, I expect tough matches all the time," Halep told reporters. "I was lucky that during the week I had short matches. But always when I step on the court, I'm ready for a three-hour match, so I'm OK." A victory in the title match would be the 19th of Halep's career and would also allow her to regain the World No. 1 ranking. The Romanian lost that in January when Naomi Osaka of Japan moved to the top spot. Bencic put up a strong fight to win the tiebreaker in the second set but Halep rolled to an easy win in the third. "I found Simona was playing better than me the whole match," Bencic told reporters. "But overall, I'm pretty happy how I fought. I found that I defended pretty good. It was opposite today, I was mostly the defense, and Simona was the aggressive one, so I think that makes the difference as well." Meanwhile, Bertens posted a straight-set victory to reach the championship match for the second straight year. She lost to Petra Kvitova in last year's final. Bertens will be seeking her ninth career title when she takes the court against Halep. "It is going to be a really tough battle, I would say," Bertens told reporters. "We have had great battles in the past. She loves clay. She loves to play here as well. She won it already twice. I love it also here. So I think it is just going to be a great battle and yeah, I'm looking forward to it." Story continues Bertens hit 12 winners in the victory over Stephens -- who had six -- in the 89-minute match. It was the first time she has beaten Stephens in three attempts. "She can hit a lot of balls back and still hit unbelievable shots," Bertens said of Stephens. "So you always have to be ready for that turnaround. And I think it was good today that I broke her straight back when she broke me and that I was still able to fight for the second set." --Field Level Media<doc-sep>Competing in her second straight Madrid final, the 7th seed Kiki Bertens took down a former champion Simona Halep 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 27 minutes for the most significant title in a career. This was the 11th WTA final for the Dutch and her ninth title, joining Bianca Andreescu and Ashleigh Barty as the third first-time Premier Mandatory champion this season. With this outcome, Naomi Osaka will stay ahead of Simona Halep at the top of the WTA rankings list while Bertens moves inside the top-4 for the first time in a career, joining the list with some big names who have managed to conquer events at this level before her. Halep and Bertens battled for the sixth time and the Dutch delivered the third win, the second in a row after Cincinnati last year when she also celebrated in the title match. Halep had some impressive results in Madrid in the last couple of years and she fought well this well as well, moving one win away from the third crown at Caja Magica but standing no chance today against the stronger opponent. The Romanian landed in a staggering 87% of the first serve although that gave her nothing, dropping half of the points behind the initial shot and getting broken five times from eight chances offered to Bertens. On the other hand, Kiki fought off three out of five break points and had a dominant role on the court, firing 25 winners in comparison to only nine from Halep who couldn't forge the victory with her defense. The first set saw five breaks of serve in six games from 2-1 for Halep, with Bertens seizing three straights good return games for a 6-4 after 37 minutes. The Dutch delivered a crucial break at 2-2 in the second set after a forehand error from Simona, saving a break point at 4-3 and sealing the deal on the third match point in game ten to start a massive celebration of her career-best result at the age of 27.<doc-sep>
Halep has the opportunity to move back to the top of the WTA rankings with a win in Saturday's final against Bertens. Two-time Madrid winner Halep broke the unseeded Bencic in the first game of the first set, the Swiss' errant reverse flying out, but she broke back to tie at 2-2. The Romanian's down-the-line shot sealed another break in the penultimate game and she served out to win it comfortably in 27 minutes. WTA Madrid Bertens defeats Halep to win Madrid Open 11/05/2019 AT 18:32 Halep won virtually all of the long rallies, but Bencic reacted well at the start of the second set, playing more aggressively. Bencic broke to go 3-1, enjoying a stroke of luck with a shot that clipped the net and dropped just over. Halep battled back, earning a tie-break, but Bencic won it comfortably to force a deciding set, although she immediately started to struggle. At three games down, she cried during the break, visibly emotional, with Halep immediately breaking for 4-0 when play resumed, going on to wrap up the set and the match with ease. "It's a nice feeling to be back in the final of this special tournament, I'm really happy playing here," said Halep. "In the second set in that tie break I was rushing too much, I lost control of it, but then I just calmed down, told myself I had to start the match again. "I started to play smarter, opened the court more and became more aggressive." Seventh seed Bertens reached her second straight final in Madrid as she gained revenge on reigning champion Petra Kvitova in the last eight before defeating Sloane Stephens 6-2 7-5 on Friday. Bertens had to save three set points against Stephens but eventually recorded her first victory against the American in their third encounter. The Dutch world number seven triumphed in St Petersburg this season and is going for her ninth career title on Saturday. "I feel unbelievable of course, it's great to be in the final and I'm happy to finish it in two (sets)," said Bertens. "It's going to be really tough (against Halep), we played each other in the past so I know it will be a tough battle, but I'm ready for it, one more push here." WTA Madrid World number one Osaka exits Madrid Open 09/05/2019 AT 21:51