The large contingent of red-and-yellow-clad Romanian fans at Uniprix Stadium on Sunday got what they came for – a convincing victory from Simona Halep in the final of the women's Rogers Cup.
A roar went up and the flags were waving as Halep defeated error-prone American Madison Keys 7-6 (2), 6-3 to claim the title in Canada on her second try, one year after heatstroke forced her to retire from the 2015 Rogers Cup final.
"I like being here in Montreal a lot," said the fifth-seeded Halep, whose world ranking will rise to third with the win. "With all the Romanians, I felt like at home.
"Many people were coming every day. It was an amazing atmosphere down there. The man that announced us on the court said two words in Romanian, so that motivated me a lot. I said that 'now I have to win.'"
It was Halep's third tournament win this year and the 14th of her career. She won $497,700 (U.S.) in the $4.7-million event, while Keys took home $241,840.
Halep has won nine consecutive matches, including a victory at her home tournament two weeks ago. She called the Bucharest event "a small tournament" that nonetheless showed she was playing strong tennis.
Halep was not the only Romanian athlete in the spotlight of late. She arrived last week in time to take part in the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The star guest was Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who dazzled the Games with the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history.
"When I arrived here first day, I went to that big event for her," Halep said. "It motivated me a bit.
"It feels nice that 40 years later I won here in Montreal. It's a nice thing for Romanians. I'm happy that I could do it."
Halep outlasted 10th-seeded Keys in a messy first set and then dominated the second in a 1 hour 16-minute hard-court match in warm, sunny weather.
The first set had eight service breaks in 12 games – four each – before Halep took over in the tiebreaker and then went up 3-0 to start the second, which included one game that saw Keys put an easy volley into the net on break point. That break was enough to see Halep through the second set and take the Rogers Cup title for the first time.
Keys has the more powerful serve, but the 21-year-old struggled to get in her first attempts. That played to Halep's strength as a strong rallier and baseline player. Keys repeatedly ended rallies with shots into the net as Halep patiently kept the ball in play.
"I don't think I was serving as well," Keys said. "I think it was just a matter of close points here or there.
"That was really the whole match. I was starting to press a little bit. There were some times when I maybe could have taken a step back and hit a safer ball. I was just going for some shots too early."
Keys, a Rock Island, Ill., native who has been hot of late with 21 wins in her past 25 matches, will climb to ninth in the world, equalling her career best ranking.
It was a strong week over all for Keys, who defeated sixth-seeded Venus Williams in the third round.
"I think I played really a pretty good tournament," said Keys, who was to fly out Sunday night to begin preparations for the Olympics.
Halep opted not to go to Rio de Janeiro, so she plans to relax and celebrate for a few days and then prepare for her next WTA event in Cincinnati.
Halep was also in the doubles final with compatriot Monica Niculescu to be played later Sunday against Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. She will attempt to be the first to sweep both titles at the Rogers Cup in the same year since Martina Hingis in 2000.