After falling three times in major finals, Simona Halep finally broke her duck by defeating Sloane Stephens in the Roland-Garros women’s singles final.

There have been longer waits for a Grand Slam title, but Halep is done with waiting for that elusive crown. A year ago on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Halep led Jelena Ostapenko by a set and a break, only for the Latvian to turn the match on its head and break her opponent’s heart. And now, 12 months later, the Romanian did exactly the same.

The match started with both women holding serve with relative ease, but Stephens got a vital break in the fourth to take a decisive lead. Halep had a chance to break back in the ninth, but she could not take the opportunity and the American took the first set 6-3.

While the first set was reasonably straightforward, the second was the complete opposite. Stephens broke her opponent in the very first game and it looked like Halep would fall at the last hurdle once again, but she dug deep and won four games in a row to take a 4-2 lead.

In the seventh, she threw that advantage away by not holding serve. At 5-4 and Stephens serving, it looked like the second might be heading for a tie-break, but Halep piled the pressure on and broke to square the match for a one-set all after winning the second 6-4.

Halep dominated the third after winning five straight games and after breaking twice, she took a 5-0 lead. Stephens finally got on the board in the sixth, but the day ultimately belonged to Halep, who served out the match to win the third 6-1 and, in the process, won her first Grand Slam title.

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