Tennis: Halep beats erratic Keys to win Rogers Cup

Simona Halep (front) of Romania speaks to the fans after defeating Madison Keys of the United States during day seven in final round action of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on July 31 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. PHOTO: AFP

(REUTERS) - Fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania took advantage of an error-prone display by American Madison Keys to claim her 14th WTA title with a 7-6(7-2), 6-3 victory in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal on Sunday (July 31).

Halep, 24, won an erratic opening set that featured eight breaks of serve after breezing through the tiebreak, and then broke her 10th-seeded opponent again in the second game of the second to tighten her grip.

Keys was unable to break the Romanian in the concluding set and Halep served out to seal the win in 1hr 16min after the 21-year-old American dumped a forehand into the net.

Halep improved her career record against Keys to 3-1, having beaten the American over three sets in their most recent meeting at Wimbledon earlier this month.

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