Two years after losing a three-set final to Maria Sharapova, World No. 7 Simona Halep made the most of her second opportunity as she beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 for the Mutua Madrid Open title on Saturday.
There was also delight for Indian tennis fans at the Spanish capital. After Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis fell at the final hurdle, sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea made it to the final with a narrow 7-5, 6(4)-7, 12-10 victory over fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo.
Halep’s first title of the season
It had so far been a season of struggle for the 2014 French Open runner-up Simona Halep who had failed to reach a single final in the first four months of the year. Even the beginning of the clay season could not brighten up her fortunes as she slumped to an opening round defeat to qualifier Laura Siegemund at Stuttgart.
But the Romanian started showing her trademark movement and defensive skills once the Tour moved to Madrid. Her opponent in the final, Dominika Cibulkova had been in impressive form all week but Simona was determined to get off to a great start.
And she did exactly that by breaking the former Australian Open runner-up in the very first game of the match. Cibulkova continued to up the aggression on her returns as the final progressed. However, she was unable to throw off the confident Halep, who took her chances and broke the Slovak once more for a 4-1 lead.
The World No. 38 showed sparks of a fightback when she earned three break points at 2-5 but Halep responded to the challenge beautifully and took the set 6-2.
The unrelenting sixth seed broke her opponent’s serve in the opening game of the second set which put her in a more comfortable position. The intensity of the contest picked up as both showed their fantastic shotmaking abilities.
Cibulkova did not back off from her aggressive tactics and was awarded with a total of four break point opportunities, yet had no success thanks to Halep’s alertness and pin-point accuracy. The 24-year-old eventually closed out the victory in 1 hour 20 minutes.
This is the 12th title of the Romanian’s career.
Bopanna returns to the Madrid final
Much like Halep, Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea had not been able to back up their Sydney final run in January. A return to Madrid must have brought back memories of their fabulous win from last year and boosted their spirits.
For the Indo-Romanian duo held their nerves in a thrilling semi-final on Saturday to edge past the fourth seeds in the 1 hour 42 minute contest that was interrupted by rain.
In the final, the defending champions will meet the third seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
