Kiki Bertens has set an exclamation mark and won her first Premier 5 event a week before the US Open (starting August 27). The world ranking 17th from the Netherlands defeated top seeded Simona Halep in the Cincinnati final after a 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 match point, while the Romanian missed her second consecutive tournament win after her triumph in Montreal the week before and also lost her third “Cincy” final.
After 2’05 hours, the two-time Nuremberg winner turned her first match point with her sixth ace and won 530,000 dollars and 900 world ranking points for her most valuable title to date (the sixth in total on the WTA Tour).
This puts her in 13th place in the world rankings on Monday – Bertens has never been better. Halep (26), who remains the world’s number one, can also look forward optimistically to the last Grand Slam event of the season in Flushing Meadows.
On their way to their tenth consecutive victory in the last two weeks, Halep seemed to have a lively start and took the exertions of the last two weeks effortlessly. At the beginning she was the more active player in the final of the Western & Southern Open at muggy temperatures and initially dominated the rallies at the Lindner Family Tennis Center outside the gates of Cincinnati.
Halep broke in the first game after a forehand from Bertens landed far behind the baseline. Simo avoided falling back even after that and always looked for the way into the field during the rallies. In a 4-2 lead, the favourite of the Wimbledon quarter-finalist lost the service for the second time.
After a good half hour, the extremely efficient Halep took the opening round with her first set ball, after a forehand return by Bertens, who had beaten five top ten players in the last two weeks, got stuck in the net.
Afterwards, however, Halep weakened and showed signs of fatigue. The serve did not come any more and the shots lost a lot of momentum. The first break of the strong serve Bertens to 3:1 was logical. Halep’s coach Darren Cahill, one of the best analysts on the WTA tour, who was summoned shortly afterwards, advised his protégé to remain patient.
And Halep produced significantly fewer errors from that point on. They, who were cheered on again and again and as almost everywhere in the world by the Romanian fans in the stadium with “Siiimooonaaaaaa” shouts, equalized to 4:4. But shortly afterwards, the number one faced a set point at 4-5.
Bertens, however, hit the ball out – but did not lose faith in the surprise. In the tiebreak she lost 2-0, even fought off a Halep match point and saved herself in set three.
There the decision was made when Bertens took a 5-1 lead in a break festival. Halep was especially noticeable at the end that she also had nothing physically to oppose any more. It is questionable whether she will start at the tournament in New Haven next week. Halep is top seeded and has a walk-through in the first round.
Bertens, who had already reached the final at the mandatory tournament in Madrid in 2018, can also look confidently towards New York. But for some time now many things have appeared to her in a different light: a good four years ago, the thatch blonde from Wateringen received the diagnosis that she had a thyroid tumour before leaving for the French Open.
Nevertheless, Bertens fought his way into the round of 16 at the world’s most important sand court tournament and only retired there against Andrea Petkovic (Darmstadt). Months of fear and uncertainty followed – cancer or not? “It was a bad time. I couldn’t sleep,” Bertens reported. In addition, she gained about 15 kilograms and received radiation. Eventually it turned out the ulcer was benign.
Thanks to these experiences, Bertens has long since found her balance. Since October 2015 she has been working with coach Raemon Sluiter, who had made it to 46th place in the world rankings in his career. Bertens has changed her diet and is training harder than ever. “I feel I’m as fit as ever,” she said recently.