Halep seals DDFT Championship silverware

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  • Simona Halep proved why she was the top seeded player in the Dubai tournament.

    Simona Halep was at a loss for words when asked to describe how she felt after winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday, but at least she knows exactly what she will do with her handsome paycheck.

    Halep, whose title win earned her $465,000 (Dh1.7m) and took her back to the No3 spot in the rankings, will pay a visit to the mall today to pick a gift for herself and will buy a house when she goes back home to Romania.

    She certainly deserves it.

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    The 23-year-old overcame Czech power-hitter Karolina Pliskova in the Dubai final Saturday night, 6-4, 7-6 (4) after twice failing to serve out the match.

    The win gave Halep her second title of the season, having won in Shenzhen to kick off 2015, and she now has an impressive 10-6 record in finals.

    But this week wasn’t special for Halep just because it helped her complete a perfect 10 of trophies. This time last year, she won her biggest title to date, in Doha, which had the Premier 5 status (the highest level below the grand slams). This year, Dubai is the Premier 5 tournament, as it will be alternating the honour with Doha moving forward, and Halep was thrilled to be able to repeat her heroics from last year.

    “I’m very happy now, and I cannot explain with words how I feel,” Halep said after the win.

    “It’s just an amazing title for me. It’s very important for my career. It’s more important because it’s second year in a row (to win a Premier 5 in the Middle East), so that makes this title very special. I just want to enjoy this moment.”

    Halep came to Dubai this week suffering from a dip in confidence following her heavy quarter-final defeat to Ekaterina Makarova in the Australian Open, and some shaky form in the Fed Cup. She also revealed that she has been dealing with a rib injury and an ankle problem. But a huge week in Dubai saw her avenge her loss to Makarova, and earn tough wins over world No5 Caroline Wozniacki, Tsvetana Pironkova and finally Pliskova, who is having a tremendous year so far and lies at No4, just one spot
    below Halep in the Road to Singapore standings.

    “I have confidence now but it’s finished, this tournament. Next week another one,” added Halep, who is seeded No2 in the Doha event, which kicks off on Monday.

    “That (win over Makarova) was a very important match, because she beat me in Australia, and it was very important to win this time because in Australia I was disappointed as I couldn’t fight. Here I just tried to fight till the end. I did very well, and I think that’s why I won this title.”

    The day started with a sandstorm that forced the men’s qualifying games to be postponed for three hours. Strong winds continued throughout the day but an hour before the women’s final, the air cleared, the winds slowed down and the temperature dropped, making for pleasant conditions. It was almost like the forecast changed just to reward the crowd with some high-quality tennis.

    Halep saved two break points in the first six games. However, it was  the diminutive Romanian – facing a player 18cm taller and who is the WTA leader in aces struck this season – who broke first and took the opener.

    The pair traded breaks early in the second before Pliskova went off court to get treatment for a hip problem. From the seventh game onwards, the match saw six consecutive breaks of serve, as Halep twice couldn’t serve out the clash, at 5-4 and 6-5, double-faulting twice in a horror 11th game of the set.

    But the world No3 regrouped in the tiebreak and never looked back, sealing the title on her third championship point, sending the scores of loud Romanian fans in the stands into a frenzy.

    “I cannot explain it,” Halep said referring to the huge crowds that showed up for her all week. She also had a huge entourage with her of friends and family, and they dined together each night.

    “It’s really nice. They gave me power. In Doha (last year) they were in the same formation, so I will take them to every tournament with me,” she joked.

    Meanwhile, Pliskova was disappointed to lose but she is choosing to take positives from her week in Dubai, where she reached her biggest final yet, and will now rise to a career-high ranking of No12.

    “I wasn’t really thinking about the ranking during this week, but it’s amazing. For the first time in my life I was 18, now 12. I’m really happy,” said the 22-year-old Czech.

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