Romanian Simona Halep won her first career WTA Tour title at the inaugural NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP with a victory over former top-ten player Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-3.
“This is a very nice win for me, and this is a very nice tournament – I’ll never forget this,” Halep said.
“Andrea beat me in Romania a few years ago and I’m happy I could win against her here today. She played great and the atmosphere was great. It’s an unbelievable feeling to win my first WTA title,” she added.
Halep has reached three WTA finals in the past but lost all those matches but she broke the “curse” on her fourth attempt.
As for Petkovic, finishing as runner-up is already a huge achievement especially since she was just coming back from injury.
“There are definitely more positives than negatives,” Petkovic said. “The good thing is Simona made it a little easier for me to get over the loss because she played such an incredible match. She played an almost perfect match, especially after she found her rhythm in the middle of the first set. I wasn’t playing my best tennis, but even if I was playing my best tennis, it would be a very, very tough call.
“I have a lot of respect for how she played against me. She more than deserved to win today.”
