World number three Simona Halep impressed her home fans on Sunday after winning the inaugural Bucharest Open title by defeating Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-1, 6-3 in 68 minutes. The victory places her just 11 points behind current leader Maria Sharapova in the Road To Singapore standings.
Halep, who reached the French Open final and Wimbledon semifinals this season, now has a total of 8 WTA titles which she won in just a span of almost two years. She won six titles in 2013 and two so far this season.
“I really wanted to play this tournament and win it,” Halep said. “Today’s final was a very emotional one. The crowd was amazing and I want to thank everybody who played a part in the tournament.”
Halep is targetting a debut in the prestigious WTA Finals Singapore in October where she’s almost assured of becoming part of.
“What I wish for now is to get to Singapore and do an equally good job there,” Halep said. “I want to play every match and every tournament to reach as high a ranking as possible.”
Vinci complimented the champion.
“Simona is an incredible tennis player and she has a phenomenal game. I gave it my best and I actually managed to get to 2-0 in the second set but she was too strong. However, it was nice to receive the support of the crowd, and I am happy to have played my first singles final of the year here.”
It was an all-Romanian victory as well in doubles with Elena Bogdan and Alexandra Cadantu defeating Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey and Karin Knapp of Italy 6-4, 3-6, 10-5.
