Simona Halep Reaches Her 18th WTA 1000 Finals

On the 14th of August, former WTA  no. 1 Simona Halep reached her 18th WTA 1000 Finals after defeating number 7 seed American Jessica Pegula in a 3-set match at the National Bank Open (NBO) in Toronto. The match ended 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and took 2 hours and 12 minutes. This final will be the fourth NBO final for the two-time NBO champ Simona Halep.

This final is Halep’s first final since winning the Melbourne 250 at the start of this year and this will be the biggest final for her since Rome 2020. Simona Halep is currently WTA ranked 15 and is set to return to the WTA top 10 on 15th August after dropping out of the top ten on 9th August 2021. At this final, Simona is bidding to win her ninth WTA 1000 title and 24th career title. 

Simona Halep will face Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia for the upcoming finals match. This will be their fourth meeting since their last meeting at the Australian Open earlier this year where Simona won in 2 sets against Beatriz. Simona Halep currently leads the head-to-head with Haddad Maia 2-1. Will Beatriz be able to overcome the former WTA no.1 and tie up the scores?