Simona Halep ends wait to become world number one

The second French woman to reach China Open final, following in footsteps of Mauresmo, who finished runner‐up to Kuznetsova in 2006, had to save eight break point in an impressive game before Halep netted a far fom impossible backhand.

“In general terms, I think I played with not many mistakes”, Nadal said. “If I play my best and I stay aggressive tomorrow and I am consistent, I think everything can happen”. “To win a Grand Slam”.

Had Elina Svitolina managed to eke out their quarterfinal – Garcia won 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (6) in three hours, 21 minutes – the possibility of the Beijing women’s singles final determining the new No. 1 on the WTA Tour would still have been alive. She said she was feeling exhausted when the match began but was able to work through the fatigue.

Frenchwoman Garcia was clinical at the crucial moments to earn a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory in Beijing and she has now won back-to-back Premier titles following her triumph in Wuhan.

But Nadal took immediate control of the third set, racing to 4-0. The Australian had an impressive 70 percent first-serve percentage and posted 11 aces to none for Zverev, who is normally known for his serving prowess.

The two players had to fight in the tiebreak as there was no break in the set.

Halep, who previous year was defeated in the round of 16 in Beijing, won 149,138 United States dollars and 215 WTA singles points.

The Romanian paid full credit to her opponent for the win.

Halep has come close twice to sealing the World No 1 ranking this year but stumbled both times – at the French Open and then at Wimbledon. And she’s back in her third straight semi after beating Sori Cirstea 6-4, 6-4.

Kyrgios was angered by a line call in the first set and his complaints eventually cost him a penalty point at the start of the eighth game. In the quarter-finals, she meets the victor between 11th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Russian Daria Kasatkina. At 40-0 in the final game, Halep won with a clean forehand victor down the line.

It’s the sixth singles title of Garcia’s career, who has started 2017 with a record of 14-11 before French Open and is now on an 11-match winning streak.

“You can take a little bit away from all the matches we’ve played in the past”, Sharapova said. She played an unbelievable tennis.