Garcia pulls off Halep upset to win China Open final
Tennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France kisses the trophy after winning the match against Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
(Reuters) - Unseeded Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia won the biggest singles title of her career with a 6-4 7-6(3) victory over soon-to-be world number one Simona Halep in the China Open final in Beijing on Sunday.
Garcia extended her winning streak to 11 matches and added to her Wuhan Open triumph last week. The current world number 15 will climb to ninth in the rankings on Monday, marking her Top 10 debut.
Halep, who will take over as number one in the next rankings, broke Garcia's serve in the first game of the match but the 23-year-old hit back immediately, breaking the Romanian twice to win the first set.
Tennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France reacts after winning the match against Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
With the score tied at 3-3 in the second set, Garcia saved nine consecutive break points in the seventh game, before taking a 4-3 lead but Halep recovered to force a tiebreak.
The Frenchwoman became the first to complete the Wuhan and Beijing double and is now on track to qualify for the season-ending WTA finals, as her win took her past Briton Johanna Konta to number eight in the Race to Singapore rankings.
Halep's record at finals this year is underwhelming, with the 26-year-old winning just one of her five finals so far - the Madrid Open in May.
Tennis - China Open - Women's Final - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France celebrates after defeating Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
Tennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France holds the trophy after winning the match against Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Thomas PeterTennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia (R) of France and Simona Halep of Romania hug each other after their match. REUTERS/Jason LeeTennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Simona Halep of Romania in action against Caroline Garcia of France. REUTERS/Jason LeeTennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia (R) of France and Simona Halep of Romania attend the trophy ceremony. REUTERS/Jason LeeTennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France holds the trophy after winning the match against Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Jason LeeTennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France celebrates after wining a point against Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Jason LeeTennis - China Open - Women's Singles Finals - Beijing, China - October 8, 2017 - Caroline Garcia of France eyes a ball during the match against Simona Halep of Romania. REUTERS/Jason Lee
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