Cincinnati, Aug 24 (IANS): Serena Williams reasserted her World No.1 status by beating Romania's Simona Halep 6-3,7-6 (3) to win the Cincinnati Masters for the second time here.
With the win the American now has won 15 consecutive finals. She needed an hour and 39 minutes long game to win on Sunday, reports Efe.
In 2013, Williams had lost the Cincinnati title to the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka.
This year, she won five out of seven matches against Halep, who had earlier defeated her at the Indian Wells.
Williams adds her Cincinnati title to her other wins this season at Melbourne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Miami.
The No.1's determination and service crashed Halep's hopes and although she dominated the start of each game, the Romanian World No. 3 failed to match up to her rival, who also won the final tie-breaker.