Halep moves to No.3 after Montreal title

TOP THREE: Simona Halep kisses the Rogers Cup after defeating Madison Keys in the final at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Sunday night. (AFP)

PARIS: Simona Halep moved back into the world’s top three on Monday after beating Madison Keys to win the WTA event in Montreal.
The Romanian jumps up two places from fifth, with only Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams now above her.
World No.1 Williams still holds a substantial lead at the top of the rankings, despite pulling out of the Canadian tournament with a shoulder injury.
Keys’ run to a first ever final in a hard-court competition sees her break back into the top 10 at a joint career-high ranking of ninth.
Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova also moves in the right direction, the two-time major champion is now ranked tenth after her run to the quarterfinals last week.
Halep beat a mistake-prone Madison Keys 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 and claim her 14th career singles crown.
Halep has now won 23 of her last 26 matches, a stretch that has included lifting titles in Madrid, Bucharest and now Montreal.
“It was not my best tennis because I couldn’t play my best tennis,” Halep said. “I cannot hit stronger than her because she’s very strong.
“I tried just to keep the ball away from her and to make her run.
“I think I did it pretty well, and she missed shots. It was really tough for me to hit winners today.”
Halep had some unfinished business to take care of at this tournament after reaching the final for the second straight year. Halep was unable to close the deal last year when she became ill in the third set, handing the title to unseeded Belinda Bencic.
Sunday’s win wasn’t pretty as she hit just four winners against Keys, an American playing in her first career hardcourt tournament final.
It was a match Keys would no doubt like to quickly forget as she finished with 45 unforced errors and had her serve broken five times, including four times in the opening set.
Her best previous hardcourt performance was a semifinal run at the 2015 Australian Open. She also reached the semis at Sydney in 2014 and Osaka in 2013.
“I’m obviously not going to say it’s a bad week just because I lost one match. I think I played really a pretty good tournament,” Keys said.
“I wish today went a little bit differently. Sometimes it happens. Just take the positives from that and move on.”
Halep is the first player to reach back-to-back finals in the event since Jennifer Capriati did it in 2001 and 2002.
Halep won a sloppy first set in 43 minutes despite hitting just one winner.
The Romanian took the set on the second of five potential set points in the tiebreaker when Keys hit a backhand wide.
She then claimed the title on another Keys error as the American blasted a forehand into the net on championship point.


WTA top 20 on Aug. 1

1. Serena Williams (USA) 8,300 pts
2. Angelique Kerber (GER) 6,745
3. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,970 (+2)
4. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 5,481 (-1)
5. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 5,340 (-1)
6. Venus Williams (USA) 4,010
7. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 3,761
8. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 3,550
9. Madison Keys (USA) 3,455 (+3)
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 3,060 (+1)
11. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 3,015 (-1)
12. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 3,010 (-3)
13. Johanna Konta (GBR) 2,940 (+1)
14. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 2,920 (-1)
15. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 2,609
16. Belinda Bencic (SUI) 2,605
17. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 2,540
18. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 2,425
19. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 2,400
20. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 2,330