Sports
Tennis: Halep Wins Title For Second Time
Simona Halep won the Dubai Tennis Championships for the second time, the first coming in 2015
World number two Simona Halep has won her 20th WTA title, beating Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in the Dubai Tennis Championships final.
The Romanian, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, struggled in the first set but fought back to lift the trophy.
Rybakina, 20, playing her fourth final this year, took the two-time Grand Slam winner to a third-set tiebreak.
“I played so hard, I really wanted to win this tournament,” said Halep.
World number 19 Rybakina broke into the top 50 in September and in 2020 has reached the finals of the Shenzhen Open and St Petersburg Ladies Trophy as well as winning the Hobart International.