August 13, 2018 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo Credit: USTA
In a rematch of this year’s French Open final, Romania’s Simona Halep and American Sloane Stephens did battle in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal on Sunday. Halep was once again victorious, holding Stephens off with a 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4 victory.
Halep secured a late break for 5-2 in the deciding third set which turned out to be the difference, as she went on to close out the championship in two hours and 41 minutes.
“This week, it’s been an amazing effort,” said Halep. “It’s brutal, the effort for me. This week it was really tough.”
Over in Toronto, Rafael Nadal won the 33rd Masters 1000 title of his career as he beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 7-6(4) on Sunday.
“If you told me this two weeks ago I would not have believed it,” said Nadal. “It’s a great way to start the hard-court season. Winning in Toronto is so important. You don’t win Masters 1000s very often. It’s a very important victory for me and I’m very happy.”
