Mutua Madrid Open—Madrid, Spain
No. 3 seed Simona Halep defended her Mutua Madrid Open title on Saturday, defeating No. 14 seed Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. In a titanic struggle that took two hours and 44 minutes to complete, Halep won a close first set before Mladenovic showed her fighting spirit to take set two. With the title on the line, Halep increased her first set percentage to 87 and broke her French opponent’s serve on two occasions. Winning the 15th title of her career, Halep improved to 2-3 against Mladenovic in head-to-head meetings and took home €1,043,680 for her efforts.
Halep and Mladenovic will next see action at the Italian Open in Rome next week.
