After both held serve comfortably, Mertens had a long drawn out saga with her second attempt to hold. In a sixteen point debacle, she saved three break points, wasted two game points, but ultimately fell to a fourth break chance.
At 3-2, Halep had her own problems, being broken back with the second of two break points converted.
Mertens just was not having a good day when at the line. She looked decidedly wobbly in the seventh game, scraping through after saving two more break points, then crashed again in the ninth on the first of another two break opportunities.
Halep tortured Mertens when serving for the set, dragging the inevitable out to where a fourth set point was required to settle the issue.
6-4 Halep.
The horror story continued into set two, where Mertens dropped her serve in the opening game. Halep consolidated for a 2-0 lead.
Mertens led 40-30 assisted by a couple of winners, but Halep put away an overhead, then went down the line with a forehand return winner to have break point. Another forehand winner confirmed the break and a 3-0 lead.
Mertens immediately retrieved one of the breaks, forehand and backhand winners helping.
Serving at 4-3, Halep was victim to a Mertens lob, answered it with a forehand pass, but was forced into error, then was beaten by a Mertens off forehand. Break point. A volley winner from Mertens levelled things at 4-4.
Mertens saved four break points in the next game, but a backhand volley on the fifth sent Halep to 5-4 and to the line serving for the match.
A service winner, forehand winner, and an ace gave Halep three match points. Mertens hit the net with a backhand and Simona Halep won 6-4 6-4.
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