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World number one Simona Halep has claimed her maiden grand slam title winning the French Open final against tenth seed Sloane Stephens.
She had gone 0-3 in matches with a major trophy on the line before facing Stephens for the Roland Garros title.
"All the experience from those three finals that I lost … was a positive thing and gave me a little bit more power to believe," Halep said.
Halep came back from a set and a break down to beat Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and win the championship in a match made up of long points and key momentum swings.
"That's the most important thing — that I stay there focused," said Halep, the first Romanian to collect a major title since her manager, Virginia Ruzici, at the 1978 French Open.
"I believed and I never gave up."
Halep lost two previous finals at Roland Garros — against Maria Sharapova in 2014, then Jelena Ostapenko in 2017 despite leading by a set and 3-0 in the second.
Her third runner-up finish came against Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open in January.
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