Brussels, Belgium (Sports Network) - Agnieszka Radwanska captured her third
title of the season with a straight-set win over Simona Halep in the final at
the Brussels Open.
The top-seeded Radwanska battled through a tough first set and rolled through
the second for a 7-5, 6-0 triumph. She previously won this year in Miami and
Dubai, and now has 10 career titles.
Neither player served well Saturday, as there were a combined 10 breaks of
serve. The second set, however, belonged to the third-ranked Radwanska. She
didn't face a break point against her serve, converted 3-of-7 break chances
against Halep and dropped just eight of the 34 total points played.
The native of Poland improved to 10-2 all-time in WTA title matches. She
bounced back nicely after a surprising first-round exit in Rome last week,
winning each of her four matches this week in straight sets.
Prior to last week's setback to Petra Cetkovska, Radwanska's only match losses
this year came against world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. Six times Azarenka has
beaten Radwanska, and the two can meet again in the French Open semifinals.
Radwanska will start her stay in Paris against Bojana Jovanovski, but appears
to have a tough draw. Venus Williams looms in the second round, while 2009
French champ Svetlana Kuznetsova is a possible third-round foe and 2008 winner
Ana Ivanovic is in line for a potential fourth-round encounter.
Halep fell to 0-3 lifetime in title matches. The 20-year-old Romanian's
previous two finals came in Morocco in 2010 and again last year.
Radwanska, who also beat Halep in their lone previous meeting in the third
round of the 2011 Australian Open, collected a first prize of $107,000.
The Sports Network