Halep beats Williams, wins her first Wimbledon title

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LONDON. KAZINFORM - Simona Halep on Saturday won her first Wimbledon singles title as she beat Serena Williams of the United States 6-2, 6-2 in just 56 minutes, EFE reports.

For the second year in a row,Williams was defeated in the final of the tournament following her loss in 2018to Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

This time she fell short againstHalep, another former world No. 1, who will jump three spots to fourth in theWTA rankings on Monday.

Halep had not won a title thisseason prior to taking Wimbledon.

The 27-year-old Halep became the12th player to capitalize on their first Wimbledon final appearance to take thetitle.

Having squandered her sixthchance to equal Australian Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titlessince claiming her last at the Australian Open in 2017, Williams will have towait a little longer to have a another chance to achieve that milestone.

After returning from a maternityleave, Williams fell short at the French Open round of 16, the finals ofWimbledon and US Open in 2018 and did not get past the Australian Openquarterfinals nor the French Open third round in 2019.

«Never,» Halep replied on whethershe has played a better match. «It was the best match and of course Serena hasalways inspired us so thanks for that.»

«I had nerves. My stomach was notvery well before the match, but I knew that there is no time for emotions, Ijust came on court and I gave my best,» she said during an on-court interview.

«It was my Mum’s dream for me.She said if I wanted to do something in tennis I have to play the final of Wimbledon,so today the day came,» she added.

Williams conceded her serve twicein the early stages of the first set and needed 13 minutes to get onto thescoreboard for the first time in the fifth game.

Halep was untouchable on serve,while Williams' serve was not at its best and the US player had no comeback tothe Romanian's groundstrokes.

Williams created a break point inthe sixth game – the longest in the set – but Halep stormed past Williams toseal the set a couple of games later after just 26 minutes of contest.

Williams conceded her deliverytwice more in the second set, in which the Romanian did not face a single breakpoint.

«She literally played out ofher mind. Whenever a player plays that amazing you just have to take your hatoff,» Williams said afterwards.

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