ICYMI at French Open: Simona Halep finally has the big trophy

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2:36 PM ET

PARIS — Simona Halep is no longer the best player in the game without a Grand Slam title.

In her fourth attempt, the world No. 1 finally won the finale of a major with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory Saturday against Sloane Stephens. Halep had lost twice in a final at Roland Garros (2014, 2017) and at the Australian Open earlier this year before her victory.

What does it mean? Let’s go to the stats:

Halep was one of seven women in the Open era to reach No. 1 without a major, alongside Kim Clijsters (2003), Amelie Mauresmo (2004), Jelena Jankovic (2008), Dinara Safina (2009), Caroline Wozniacki (2010) and Karolina Pliskova (2017).

The 26-year-old joins Clijsters, Mauresmo and Wozniacki as the only women since the introduction of the WTA Rankings in 1975 to win their first major after their first appearance as a world No. 1.

Halep is also only the third woman in the Open era to win her first major title after coming from a set down to win the championship match.

With the win, Halep becomes the fifth woman to win the French Open after losing the final the previous year. Chris Evert (1974 & 1985), Steffi Graf (1993), Ana Ivanovic (2008) and Maria Sharapova (2014 against Halep) also achieved this.

Reaction from around the globe

Simona Halep no longer has to call herself a Slam-less world No. 1. Here’s what the tennis world thought of her performance at this year’s French Open:

Lift it high and proud!

There was a funny moment during the trophy presentations on Chatrier where Sloane Stephens showed Simona Halep how to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.

Stephens explained in press: “Show the world your trophy! You have been waiting for this. So you better put it up in the air and show them what you got today. And she had a prize money check, too, but they don’t do that here. She benefited a lot today, so she should definitely show everybody that she is definitely winning.”

Party time

While the tennis world welcomed Halep into the Grand Slam winners’ circle, some of her fans were shedding tears of joy on the court.

There was a huge Romanian presence in and around Court Philippe Chatrier for the final; the atmosphere was electric.

Halep acknowledged her support in her on-court interview: “I see the Romanian flag in the crowd. Thanks to my friends and my family and to all the Romanian and French fans, I have felt your support over the last two weeks.”

Case closed

Surely one of the nicest trophy cases in the world? Louis Vuitton — nothing but the best for Coupe Suzanne Lenglen:

Celeb watch

Plenty of Hollywood Royalty present to watch the French Open women’s final.

Hilary Swank, star of the aptly named film “Red Dust,” took to the court, while Woody Harrelson also returned after he was spotted watching Rafael Nadal’s men’s semifinal against Juan Martin del Potro.

Toronto FC forward Jozy Altidore was also spotted in the player’s box cheering on his girlfriend Stephens.

There’s no place like home…

What a moment for Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The French No. 6 seeds captured their first ever Roland Garros men’s doubles title with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic to give the home fans plenty to celebrate.

The Court Philippe Chatrier crowd erupted as Herbert converted match point before both players celebrated joyously on the clay. And what a moment for Mahut, whose son ran across court to greet him after their win:

America’s winner

Fear not, America! You still have a French Open champion in 2018.

Teenager Cori “Coco” Gauff, 14, came from a set down to beat compatriot Caty McNally 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in Saturday’s all-American French Open girls’ final.

After losing last year’s US Open final, Gauff becomes the fifth-youngest girl to win the Roland Garros crown. Five of the past seven majors in juniors have been won by an American.

“It’s really great, because we are all cheering for each other,” Gauff said in press. “You know, we always want to keep the championship home. It’s really nice to see all of my friends doing good and doing well in tournaments.”

Gauff has trained at Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy, where she has bumped into both Stephens and Serena Williams. “They’re my idols. So even if I see them, like, every day, I’m still going to be nervous talking to them, because I look up to them. You know, I always want to make a good impression. But, you know, I really like them, and they’re really nice to me, and I’m grateful for that.”

Elsewhere, Tapei’s Chun Hsin Tseng was crowned boys’ singles champion, while Japan celebrated a double victory in the wheelchair singles category. Yui Kamiji won the women’s singles crown, with Shingo Kunieda was triumphant in the men’s.

And finally …

Seeing as though it’s a World Cup year — from standing alongside former Romanian soccer star Gheorghe Hagi as a young child…

… to French Open champion. Congratulations, Simona Halep!

This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.
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