Halep scores Ostapenko revenge, clinches WTA No.1

Simona Halep reached the final of the China Open in Beijing with a straight sets victory over latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko, clinching the World No.1 ranking in the process.

In a rematch of the French Open final, Romania's Simona Halep ousted Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinals of the China Open, 6-2, 6-4, and made history in the process. 

With the victory, Halep will become the 25th player in WTA history - and first from Romania - to rise to World No.1 when the new rankings are released on Monday. 
 

She will contest her fifth final of the season on Sunday against the winner of the second semifinal match between No.12 Petra Kvitova and Caroline Garcia.
 

With 14 winners and 10 unforced errors, Halep put on a tidy performance in one hour, 15 minutes, in which she hardly trailed.
 

The result flipped the script of June's French Open final, in which Halep led Ostapenko by a set and a break, with points for a double break in the second set, only to see the Latvian come all the way back and stun the tennis world for her first Grand Slam title. 
 

"I didn't think too much that I am again in the same position. In French Open I was a set and 3-0, so here was a little bit different. Still, she played really well those games, those next games," Halep reflected. "I was not worried. I just tried to stay focused, to not going back, to not going too farther from the baseline. I tried just to block all the balls and to hit the balls.
 

"The serve was maybe the best thing today during the whole match. I think mentally I was different, and that's why I could win the match."
 

Halep broke Ostapenko's serve four times in the match and served five aces of her own to clinch victory, beginning the match with a love break and sealing it with a love hold to rise to the WTA summit.
 

 

 

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