Halep beats Keys 7-6 (2), 6-3 to take Rogers Cup

Simona Halep beat Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the Rogers Cup final for the second straight year.

Halep won the toss and elected to receive.

The 21-year-old Keys won the Wimbledon tuneup event in Birmingham, England, this year for her second WTA Tour title, then reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.

That was the opening Keys needed and she never looked back, closing out the set on Kucova’s serve. After Williams rallied to tie the match, Keys found her serve in the third set, ending the match with her 12th ace. I made lot of mistakes. Congratulations to Madison for a great week and I wish you the best for the future.

Halep quickly wrestled the initiative in the second set, a stunning lob and two poor forehand errors from Keys handing her a 2-0 lead. On break point, she was unable to handle a low backhand volley and put the ball in the net.

Madison Keys is ready and willing to be a regular Top 10 resident and big title victor – it’s just that her fellow top players aren’t ready to let her. “She was hitting very strong. So while her first serve was a little easier to return, her second serve was really tough”.

“I’m exhausted”, she added with a smile.

Nevertheless, we’re backing the Romanian to come through and similarly to the Kerber clash, her rival will have her moments and this could very well be a battle that goes the distance with Halep eventually prevailing.

Kucova said the key to facing Halep is to stay calm. I think there were some times when I maybe could have taken a step back and hit a safer ball.

Sunday’s triumph wasn’t a pretty affair as Halep hit just four winners against Keys who was playing in her first career hardcourt tournament final. “I had, I can say, bad memories from a year ago that I had to finish the match and to stop it, so I am happy that I could win”. “She played a lot and I’m sure she was very exhausted”. “I need to learn how to keep it going and deal with the pressure. Sometimes it happens. Just take the positives from that and move on”.

Halep improved her career record against Keys to 3-1, having beaten the American over three sets in their most recent meeting at Wimbledon earlier this month, and will rise to third when the world rankings are issued on Monday.