Tennis: Mertens beats top seed Halep to win the Qatar Open

Elise Mertens fought back from a set down to beat top seed Simona Halep in the final of the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha. The Belgian, who had only won a total of six games in her two previous meetings with Halep, was broken four times in the opening set. Mertens went on to lose 18 consecutive points from the end of the first set into the second and conceded a break to fall behind 1-0. However, the world number 21 then tamed her opponent's serve twice to take it 6-4. Halep, who won this title in 2014, was broken again in the opening game of the deciding set. Although the Romanian levelled at 2-2, Mertens claimed another break in the following game and led the rest of the way, forcing a final break to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.