The Rogers Cup has two new champions as Simona Halep of Romania defeated error-prone American Madison Keys and Novak Djokovic bested Kei Nishikori.
A roar went up and the flags were waving as Halep defeated Keys 7-6 (2), 6-3 to claim the title in Canada on her second try, one year after heat stroke forced her to retire from the 2015 Rogers Cup final.
"I like being here in Montreal at lot," said fifth-seeded Halep, whose world ranking will rise to third with the win. "With all the Romanians, I felt like at home.
"Many people were coming every day. It was an amazing atmosphere down there. The man that announced us on the court said two words in Romanian, so that motivated me a lot. I said that now I have to win."
It was the Halep's third tournament win this year and the 14th of her career. She won $497,700 while Keys took home $241,840.
She has won nine consecutive matches including a victory at her home tournament two weeks ago. She called the Bucharest event "a small tournament" that nonetheless showed she was playing strong tennis.
Halep was not the only Romanian athlete in the spotlight of late. She arrived last week in time to take part in the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The star guest was Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who dazzled the Games with the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history.
"When I arrived here first day, I went to that big event for her," said Halep. "It motivated me a bit.
"It feels nice that 40 years later I won here in Montreal. It's a nice thing for Romanians. I'm happy that I could do it."
Halep outlasted 10th-seeded Keys in a messy first set and then dominated the second in a one-hour, 16-minute hardcourt match in warm, sunny weather.
The first set had eight service breaks in 12 games -- four apiece -- before Halep took over in the tiebreaker and then went up 3-0 to start the second, which included one game that saw Keys put an easy volley into the net on break point. That break was enough to see Halep through the second set and take the Rogers Cup title for the first time.
Keys has the more powerful serve, but the 21-year-old struggled to get in her first attempts. That played to Halep's strength as a strong rallier and baseline player. Keys repeatedly ended rallies with shots into the net as Halep patiently kept the ball in play.
"I don't think I was serving as well," said Keys. "I think it was just a matter of close points here or there.
"That was really the whole match. I was starting to press a little bit. There were some times when I maybe could have taken a step back and hit a safer ball. I was just going for some shots too early."
Keys, a Rock Island, Ill., native who has been hot of late with 21 wins in her last 25 matches, will climb to ninth in the world, equalling her career best ranking.
It was a strong week overall for Keys, who defeated sixth-seeded Venus Williams in the third round.
"I think I played really a pretty good tournament," said Keys, who was to fly out Sunday night to begin preparations for the Olympics.
Halep opted not to go to Rio de Janeiro, so she plans to relax and celebrate for a few days and then prepare for her next WTA event in Cincinnati.
After a short rest, Halep was back on the court for the doubles final, but she and compatriot Monica Niculescu fell 6-3, 7-6 (5) to Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Visnina. She had hoped to become the first woman to sweep both titles at the Rogers Cup in the same year since Martina Hingis in 2000.
Djokovic victorious
Djokovic's 6-3, 7-5 win over Nishikori came after a short rain delay and was his fourth Rogers Cup championship, still short of Ivan Lendl's record of six.
He last won in 2012, and also claimed the title in 2011 and 2007.
Both players relied on their return game throughout the match, with Djokovic earning five aces to Nishikori's four. Unforced errors also played a huge role, with Nishikori making 28 to Djokovic's 18.
Nishikori tied the second set 3-3 with a forehand return down the line that stopped Djokovic in his tracks. After the break point Nishikori bent over, clenching his fist in celebration.
