Halep clinches women's singles title

MELBOURNE, Jan 9: Former world number one and No. 2 seed Simona Halep clinched the Melbourne Summer Set 1 women's singles title after beating No 3 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-3 in the final, here on Sunday.

It was the 23rd career WTA singles title for Halep, who struggled with her calf and knee injuries in 2021 and missed many important tournaments.

Meanwhile, No. 2 seeds Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula captured their first doubles title as a team after defeating the unseeded Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

Muhammad and Pegula played one ITF tournament together in 2012, but have only been a semi-regular partnership since reaching the 2020 Roland Garros quarterfinals. The Americans only dropped one set in Melbourne, in their 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-6 semi-final defeat of No. 3 seeds Viktoria Kuzmova and Ver Zvonareva.

The title is Muhammad's seventh at WTA level with six different partners and preserves the 30-year-old's unbeaten record in WTA finals. 

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