Serena Williams has beaten Simona Halep in two closely-fought sets to secure the Cincinnati Open title for the fifth time in her career.
The world number one made a sluggish start to the match, allowing Halep to break her serve in the opening game of the first set with a string of aggressive returns.
Williams got the set back on level terms at 3-3 though, winning five games in a row to wrap up the opener as the Romanian started to struggle with her serve.
It looked like the American would secure a comfortable win when she took a break early in the second set, firing a string of powerful forehands past her opponent, but Halep responded straight away.
The second set headed into a tie-break, with Halep edging ahead early on as she pushed to level the match, but Williams found a run of well-timed groundstrokes to bring up two match points, claiming the second when a Halep drop shot hit the net.
Sian Cowper
