Halep wins Prague Open title

Top seed Simona Halep of Romania clinched her 21st career WTA title on Sunday, beating No.3 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 7-5 in the Prague Open final, reported Xinhua.

Halep was victorious in her last tournament in Dubai in February before the WTA Tour hiatus and has now extended her winning streak to nine matches.

"It was really tough to get back to official matches after such a long break," the world number two was quoted by the WTA official website as saying. "The emotions after staying in the room for 10 days were not easy - but you know, I have to take the positives. Also, I was able to win the tournament which means a lot."

Mertens appeared to have the better form when she broke for a 2-0 lead in the first set but Halep soon established dominance by winning six consecutive games to take the first set.

The duo exchanged breaks in the second set until Halep broke for a 6-5 lead and closed the match with a backhand into the corner.

Halep has now improved her head-to-head record against Mertens to 3-1 after winning this match in one hour and 33 minutes.