French Open (video): Popular Halep shows she has the right stuff when it matters most

TOP OF THE WORLD: Simona Halep with the trophy after her French Open women's singles final victory against Sloane Stephens. Picture: Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images)TOP OF THE WORLD: Simona Halep with the trophy after her French Open women's singles final victory against Sloane Stephens. Picture: Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images)
TOP OF THE WORLD: Simona Halep with the trophy after her French Open women's singles final victory against Sloane Stephens. Picture: Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images)
Simona Halep will head to Wimbledon having finally put to bed doubts about her big-game temperament.

The 26-year-old Romanian ended her grand slam drought by beating Sloane Stephens in the French Open final.

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Halep had something of a reputation for caving in under pressure at key moments, never more so than in last year’s Paris final when, from a set and a break up, she lost to unseeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.

This year the roles were reversed; Halep found herself a set and a break down against American Stephens, but came back to win an enthralling match 3-6 6-4 6-1.

Simona Halep hits a backhand on her way to a French Open title victory against Sloane Stephens. Picture: Mustafa Yalcin/Getty ImagesSimona Halep hits a backhand on her way to a French Open title victory against Sloane Stephens. Picture: Mustafa Yalcin/Getty Images
Simona Halep hits a backhand on her way to a French Open title victory against Sloane Stephens. Picture: Mustafa Yalcin/Getty Images

She had finally got the monkey off her back, no longer the world’s No 1 player without a grand slam to her name.

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“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “I’m really happy that I won this grand slam because being No 1 without a grand slam, I always said, is not like everything, not 100 per cent.

“Last year I was a little bit defensive when I was leading the match, and now I just change it in my mind.

“I said that I have to hit the balls. I have to move and not think about the last game. Just every ball, every point.

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“I said ‘it’s not going to happen again’, and then when I started to win games I knew there was a chance to come back and win it.

“So I believed in that, and my game was more relaxed. I could make more things on court, and that’s why I could win.”

Halep’s victory was met with a flood of congratulations from her peers on social media, a measure of her popularity within the game. The likes of Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova and Britian’s Johanna Konta all toasted her landmark win.

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“It’s nice to see the players are happy about my victory and about this trophy,” added Halep.

“We are like a family here, and it’s nice to see that we are happy for each other.

“It’s like positive things all over. And the fact that I was able to win maybe will give an inspiration also to Romanians, the kids, that it’s possible, even if you come from a little country, if you work and if you believe.”

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