Other Sports

Halep wins Dubai tiebreaker to secure 20th title

Posted February 22, 2020 6:00 am

The Associated Press

Romania's Simona Halep holds her trophy after she won Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in a final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Top-seeded Simona Halep won her 20th singles title after prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker to beat Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Dubai Championships final on Saturday.

No. 2-ranked Halep was 3-1 down in the third set. The Romanian broke to lead 6-5, but Rybakina's powerful hitting forced the tiebreaker. Rybakina led 4-3 but Halep converted the only match point.

'œIt was amazing,'ť Halep said of the 2 1/2-hour final. 'œ(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.'ť

The Wimbledon champion won her second Dubai title.

Rybakina knocked out Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in earlier rounds, and was playing her fourth final of the young WTA season. She's lost three of them.

Rybakina is projected to rise two spots to a career-high No. 17 in Monday's rankings update.

'œShe's strong. She's tall. She has power," Halep said. "I think she's really good to get into the top 10 very soon.'ť

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Romania's Simona Halep celebrates after she beats Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) The Associated Press

Romania's Simona Halep returns the ball to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during the final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) The Associated Press

Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina returns the ball to Romania's Simona Halep during the final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) The Associated Press

Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina serves to Romania's Simona Halep during the final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) The Associated Press

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.