 |
| Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in action receiving the ball during the match between Rebecca Peterson and Anett Kontaveit, in Transylvania Open Semifinals, in BT Arena, Cluj-Napoca, 30 October 2021. (Photo by Alex Nicodim/NurPhoto via Getty Images) |
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia secured a spot at the
season-ending WTA Finals after beating Simona Halep 6-2, 6-3 in the final of
the Transylvania Open on Sunday.
Kontaveit won her fourth title in the last 10 weeks and
fifth overall.
The second-seeded Kontaveit didn’t drop a set in the
tournament while winning her second straight title, after victory at the
Kremlin Cup in Moscow last week.
Her strong finish to the season with 26 wins from her last
28 matches secured the eighth and final place at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara,
Mexico. She is the first player from Estonia to do so.
She will also enter the top 10 for the first time when the
rankings are updated Monday.
Kontaveit had not won a set in three previous meetings with
Halep, but denied the home crowd favorite a 23rd career title.
Kontaveit lost serve at 5-1 but broke back right away to
take the opener.
Top-seeded Halep started the second set with an early break
to go 2-0 up, but lost the next five games. Kontaveit wrapped up the win on her
fourth match point.
The former top-ranked Halep played her first final of the
season. She has been in at least one final in each of the past 12 seasons.