Stephens comes up short as Halep wins first Grand Slam

Simona Halep beat Sloane Stephens in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, to win her first Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Simona Halep won the French Open on Saturday, defeating Sloane Stephens in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the final. The win was her first Grand Slam title after losing the final at Roland Garros last year and at the Australian Open earlier this year.

Halep is in good company as one of four women who achieved world No. 1 status before winning a Slam. The other three were Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo and current world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki, who lost in the round of 16 of this year’s French Open.

Sloane Stephens became the first American woman other than Venus or Serena Williams to reach the French Open final in nearly 20 years, but after an impressive first set couldn’t hold on against the Romanian.

The 25-year-old can be pleased with her run in Paris, which saw her reach a second Grand Slam final after winning the U.S. Open in 2017. The loss was her first in six tournament finals, but it seems likely there will be more to come in the near future.

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This was, despite Stephens’s disappointment, an encouraging tournament for U.S. women’s tennis. Stephens beat 23-year-old Illinois native Madison Keys in the semifinal, while Serena Williams made her first Slam appearance since her pregnancy.

Williams remains the standout player on the tour, but the continued rise of Stephens and Keys has shown that when Serena’s game does finally decline (she’s 36, after all), the U.S. women’s game will be in good hands.