For a while Simona Halep’s third French Open final looked like ending in familiar heartache, but the Romanian eventually wore down Sloane Stephens for a 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory to claim her long-overdue first grand slam title on Saturday.
US Open champion Stephens out-fought Halep to take the opening set and was a break up in the second but the world No.1 wound her way back into contention before running away with the deciding set.
When Halep served for the match at 5-1 with chants of “See-Mohh-Nahhh” reverberating around Court Philippe Chatrier, only a sudden attack of nerves could have denied her.
But when Stephens netted a forehand return on Halep’s first match point, the Romanian could finally replace the bitter memories of her first three slam finals with one she will cherish for the rest of her life.
After consoling Stephens, she climbed into the stands to embrace Romania’s former Olympic gymnastics champion Nadia Comaneci and 1978 Roland Garros winner Virginia Ruzici, the last Romanian to win a grand slam title.
There was also a big hug for her Australian coach Darren Cahill who was in the losers’ box last year when Halep blew a commanding lead against Jelena Ostapenko in the final.
“Thanks guys it was amazing and I felt your support,” Halep, who lost this year’s Australian Open final to Caroline Wozniacki, said on court.
“In the last game I couldn’t breathe, I just didn’t want to repeat what happened the other years. I dreamed of this moment since I started to play tennis and I can’t believe it.
“It’s great that 40 years after Virginia I managed to win.”
Halep’s victory was one of the most popular for many years at Roland Garros and at times during the match the support for the 26-year-old was deafening.
That was not the case in the first though as Stephens, the first American not called Williams to reach the French Open final since Jennifer Capriati triumphed in 2001, played flawlessly.
With both players styles built around rock-solid defence and superb court coverage it was no surprise that the shot-count quickly rose in the baseline exchanges with Halep surviving a 25-stroke exchange to win her opening service game.
Stephens, moving silkily from side-to-side, out-Haleped Halep to move 4-1 in front, however, turning herself into a human backboard to return everything being thrown at her.
Halep scrapped desperately to get the break back. When Stephens served at 5-3 30-30, a huge roar went up as she won a drop shot exchange to earn a break point.
Tenth seed Stephens, cool as a cucumber, won the next three points to take the opening set.
It looked bleak for Halep when she trailed 2-0 in the second set but the effects of Stephens’ efforts suddenly took their toll as the American began to wilt and Halep grabbed the momentum with nine consecutive points on the way to a 4-2 lead.
Halep then lost serve to love and when Stephens dragged it back to 4-4, it seemed Halep’s revival might be short-lived.
A huge Halep backhand at 30-30 in the ninth game proved too much for Stephens as Halep crucially held.
Stephens put a weary backhand wide to hand Halep the set and there was only going to be one winner from there as Halep turned the screws to break and then move 4-0 ahead when she chased a drop shot down and was equal to Stephens’ attempted lob.
One can only imagine what was going through Halep’s mind serving at 5-1 but an ace steadied her nerves before she claimed her first Grand Slam title at the 32nd attempt.
