Simona Halep wins first Grand Slam title at French Open

World No.1 Simona Halep finally landed a first Grand Slam title with a stirring fightback against American Sloane Stephens in the French Open final.

The Romanian came through 3-6 6-4 6-1 in her fourth major final, and third at Roland Garros.

Halep had led by a set and a break in last year’s final only to lose to Jelena Ostapenko; this time she trailed by a similar margin before recovering for a famous win in her 32nd Grand Slam tournament.

Only seven women have taken longer to capture their maiden major title.

“Its’ just amazing,” said Halep,  the second Romanian woman to win a Grand Slam title, following Virginia Ruzici’s triumph at Roland Garros in 1978.

"I was dreaming of this moment since I was starting to play tennis. I’m really happy it’s happened in Roland-Garros in Paris – my special city."@Simona_Halep loves you, Paris.#RG18 pic.twitter.com/LHGTa6czLh

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2018

“In the last game I didn’t feel like I could breathe any more and didn’t want to repeat last year, so I cannot believe it. I was dreaming of this moment since I started playing tennis.

“I’m really happy that it happened in Roland Garros, in my special city.”

Stephens, who won her first major title at the US Open in September, said: “Simona, congratulations on your first Slam, it looks great on you. There’s no-one I’d rather lose to than the number one in the world.”

The American had begun in the style she had carried through her previous matches, comfortably absorbing Halep’s early aggression and drawing errors as the Romanian went for too much trying to break down a rock-solid defence.

A netted forehand gave up the first break of serve at 3-1 and Stephens pushed for a second, dictating the rallies with her greater weight of shot.

Halep was giving everything to try and recover the deficit, earning a break-back point with a drop shot in game eight, but she could not convert and Stephens clinched it after 41 minutes.

The crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier were firmly behind Halep’s quest to make it third time lucky in Paris finals but there was no sentiment from Stephens.

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Three break points came and went at the start of the second set before a brilliant angled drop shot brought up a fourth, and a breathless Halep sent a smash wide.

It was to the Romanian’s credit that she dug in and worked her way back to 2-2 as Stephens suffered her first dip of the afternoon, and Halep took advantage to level at one set all when the American made successive errors under pressure.

The calm control that Stephens had enjoyed in the early stages was now gone, and she was leaking errors as her opponent took command.

Two wayward forehands from the American helped Halep to a 2-0 lead in the decider, and with sections of the crowd roaring “Simona! Simona!”, the top seed gained the double break with a spectacular rally as she moved 5-0 clear.

There was every chance that the nerves would take hold when Stephens put the brakes on Halep’s charge to make it 5-1, but the world No.1 served her way to match point, and watched as a Stephens backhand dropped into the net.

“When I was down a break in the second set, I felt like everything is gone and I just have to relax,” Halep said after climbing into the stands to celebrate with her coach Darren Cahill and team.