Simona Halep was able to shake off the disappointment of a third consecutive early exit from the WTA Finals by focusing on a positive year that led to the 26-year-old old Romanian climbing to the top of the world rankings.
Images from the French Open women's semi-final matches played at Roland Garros on Thursday
Elina Svitolina won the women's singles at the Italian Open final to claim her fourth title of the season on Sunday after her opponent Simona Halep sunk without trace in the final set.
Simona Halep is prepared for her second marathon of the tournament when she faces former champion Angelique Kerber
Garbine Muguruza outclassed former finalist Simona Halep in straight sets to enter the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday. Meanwhile, Sofia Kenin sent world number one Ash Barty spinning out of the Melbourne Park semi-finals 7-6, 7-5 on Thursday, crushing Australian hopes of a first home-grown champion at the Grand Slam in 42 years. The 21-year-old Kenin showed her frustration at times, throwing her racquet on court, but managed to hang in and saved three breakpoints to hold for 3-3 and eventually force a tiebreaker.
Small details can be cruelly decisive in big matches as Simona Halep discovered after losing her composure following an umpire's call in Saturday's French Open final against Maria Sharapova.
Top seed Simona Halep was pooled with grand slam winners Maria Sharapova and Flavia Pennetta in a formidable looking Red Group for the end-of-season WTA Finals on Friday.
World number two Simona Halep will take the final decision on her participation in the US Open after playing this week's WTA Tour event in Prague, the Romanian said on Sunday.
Halep sustained the injury last month while training for the Wuhan Open, where she lost in the second round. She then retired midway through her opener in Shanghai.
Angelique Kerber was forced to dig deep in her WTA Finals opener before the German world number one battled past Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3 in a high-class baseline slugfest at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania took advantage of an error-prone display by American Madison Keys to claim her 14th WTA title with a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Romanian beat Sloane Stephens at Roland Garros to win her maiden Grand Slam title in June and will have spent 40 weeks at the top of the rankings by the end of the season.
However, the 30-year-old Russia belied her own self-doubt with an impressive three-set win over the Romanian to thrust the former world number one back into the spotlight as the toast of the Big Apple.
As far as Halep was concerned, her 6-1, 6-3 semi-final win over Elina Svitolina meant that her mother Tania will finally get to experience something she has been dreaming of for more than a decade.
World No 1 Serena Williams suffered one of the heaviest defeats of her long and illustrious career as she was humbled 6-0, 6-2 by Romanian Simona Halep at the WTA Finals on Wednesday.
Long before Simona Halep's demolition job on Serena Williams at the WTA Finals, the Romanian was already winning over another of the game's greats.
Nick Kyrgios's nine-match winning streak ended in the Canadian Masters semi-finals on Friday when eighth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz blasted his way to a 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1 victory.
Romanian Simona Halep showed the full extent of her defensive skills to beat Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and reach her second French Open final in Paris.
Juan Martin del Potro's summer renaissance continued on Monday as the unseeded Argentine advanced into the US Open quarter-finals when Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem quit their match with an injury.
The veteran American set up a showdown with Romanian former world number one Simona Halep in Saturday's final.
Images from Day 9 of the French Open in Paris on Monday.
IMAGES from Day 8 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, on Sunday.
Romania's Simona Halep overcame Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday to claim her 10th WTA singles title.
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki came through a late wobble to reach the Australian Open final for a first time with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over Belgian Elise Mertens on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova claimed her second French Open title when she floored Romanian fourth seed Simona Halep 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 after a marathon encounter in Saturday's final.
The sixth seed, a winner in Madrid last weekend for the second year in a row, will meet either Spain's French Open champion Garbine Muguruza or Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in Sunday's final.
Sharapova was granted a wildcard entry to the last Grand Slam of the season but received a tough first-round draw in the shape of Romanian Halep.
Simona Halep crushed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to join Serena Williams in the championship decider at the WTA Finals.
Tactical change helps Halep to French Open semis
Dominika Cibulkova marched into her second career Grand Slam semi-final with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 demolition of 11th seed Simona Halep at the Australian Open.
Simona Halep produced a flawless performance to beat Serena Williams in last year's final but this week's cancellation of the grasscourt Grand Slam means she will not get to defend her title this summer.
Former world number one Simona Halep stepped up her French Open preparations with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Coco Gauff to march into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Monday while Andy Murray won on clay for the first time in five years.
Maria Sharapova recovered from a woeful start to overwhelm rising talent Simona Halep 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Madrid Open and claim her 31st career title on Sunday.
Halep has struggled for form and fitness since her first-round defeat at the US Open last August and came to Australia on a five-match losing streak and without a coach after long-serving Darren Cahill left for "family reasons".
Simona Halep believes this year's French Open victory has helped justify her position as the women's world number one
Rafael Nadal toppled big-serving American Reilly Opelka to remain perfect on the year while unseeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic stunned world number six Matteo Berrettini.
World number one Rafael Nadal produced a ruthless performance to win his 75th singles title, beating Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-2, 6-1 in the China Open final on Sunday.
Garbine Muguruza roared into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition job of Maria Sharapova on Wednesday.
A look at the form and previous records of Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Romanian Simona Halep ahead of the French Open final on Saturday
Germany's Angelique Kerber breezed past American Madison Keys in straight sets to enter the Australian Open semi-finals in Melbourne on Wednesday. The 2016 champion easily won 6-1, 6-2 in just 51 minutes.
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