Victory marks her 20th career WTA singles title and was secured from a set down
Monday 24 February 2020 10:49, UK
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep battled back from a set down to defeat Elena Rybakina and claim her first title of 2020 with victory at the Dubai Duty Free Championships.
Top seed Halep, the world No 2, finally came through 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) after a gruelling contest which lasted just short of two-and-a-half hours.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina has risen from 192 to 19 in the world rankings over the last 12 months. The 20-year-old looked on course for another upset after claiming the opening set following a break and hold to lead 5-2.
Halep, though, took command of the second set at 4-1 before swiftly recovering from a loss of serve to break back and then level the match.
The deciding set proved a tense affair, with each player broken twice.
It would take more than an hour before Halep, the 2015 Dubai champion, finally closed out victory after she recovered from 4-5 down in the tie-break to win three straight points as Rybakina hit a backhand return long from the baseline.
"It feels great that I could win it," Halep said in her post-match press conference.
"[Rybakina] fought till the end. She didn't give up any balls. It was really tough mentally.
"The pressure was very high. But I want it badly, so that's why I fought till the end."
The Romanian, who was cheered on by a vocal support, added: "I am proud of this week. I have given my best."
The WTA title, her 20th, means that Halep is level with Victoria Azarenka in sixth place on the list of active title winners. The two Williams sisters, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova sit ahead of her.
Check our news, reports and reaction from all major tennis events by following us on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices or our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
