After winning a relatively straightforward first set in 41 minutes, Halep was faced with an all-out war in the marathon 66-minute second set, battling back from an early break down at 2-0 and twice failing to serve out the match at 5-4 and 6-5 - she even got herself to match point in both those games. The second set eventually went to a tie-break, where Pliskova even inched ahead, 4-3 - but the No.1-seeded Halep reeled off four points in a row to finally close the No.17 seed out, 6-4, 7-6(4).
"I'm very happy right now. I cannot explain in words how I feel," Halep said. "It's an amazing title for me. It's very important for my career. I'm really happy and just want to enjoy this moment. "At the beginning of the tournament some people asked me if I felt pressure because I was the No.1 seed. I said no, because I wasn't thinking about it, and I just wanted to go on court and play match by match, because everyone would play really well here. And I played with big players like Makarova, Pliskova, Wozniacki - she was No.1 two years.
So it's honestly just an amazing victory for me." Pliskova had never even been to the quarters of a Premier 5 event before, let alone the final. "I was trying to turn it around, but even if I won the second set, I don't know if I would have won the whole match," she said. "It would still have been hard because she doesn't give up on any point. She runs really, really well, and it's hard to kill the ball against her. She really gets everything back. "I lost, so I'm not really happy right now, but obviously I'm happy for the week and for the last two or three weeks I had. I had so many matches here and beat great players - I'm not disappointed."
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