Halep breaks through at Indian Wells

The drama is over at the Indian Wells women’s singles final as  Simona Halep secured the biggest win of her career against former no.1 Jelena Jankovic 2-6 7-5 6-4 in 2 hours 37 minutes.

Lollipop cheered on the champion as she showed her grit in the final set to break serve when Jankovic flagged a forehand into the net and the Romanian moved ahead 5-3.

Halep was then just four points away from the title but her backhand went long giving Jankovic an unexpected break back point. Jankovic instantly broke back and forced the match into another game only this time it would be on her serve.

But Halep fought on. A ninth double fault gifted her three Championship points and she powered a forehand down the middle of the court to wrap up her third title of the year with victories at the Shenzen Open and the hard court event in Dubai.

After regaining her World No. 3 ranking Lollipop has high hopes for Halep. The Romanian reached the finals of  the French Open and Wimbledon in 2014 but could not beat the resilient Maria Sharapova in a pulsating three hour match nor Canadian Eugenie Bouchard as she suffered from an ankle injury throughout.

But 2015 could be different for the always runner up. Despite a disappointing Australian Open where Halep reached the quarter finals but lost in straight sets to 10^th seed Etatarena Marakova the Romanian has kept her resolve.

Many say Halep got lucky after Australian Open champ Serena Williams pulled out of their semi final tie before the match with a knee injury. But Halep had already overcome two gruelingly tight ties against top 15 players Karolina Pilskova and Carlo Suarez Navarro to get to the final. Plus the Romanian has beaten Williams before in straight sets at last years WTA Finals in Singapore. Who says she could not have done it again?

“Simona was unbelievable,” said Jankovic. “We were running like two dogs and in the end I couldn’t keep up any more. She’s the younger one.”

But Jankovic was the 2010 Indian Wells Champion. That title should have given her the belief to win however both players were not at their best which led to an epic match riddled with 18 breaks of serve.

The Romanian ended it on top and Lollipop believes she could stay on top this season. She has already proved she can beat the best. Now all that’s left Is a grand slam title.