Simona Halep beats Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win French Open

Simona Halep of Romania celebrates winning her semifinal match against Garbine Murguruza of Spain during day 12of the 2018 French Open at Roland Garros on June 7, 2018, in Paris, France. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Simona Halep has lifted the French Open trophy and says she "just tried not to repeat the same as last year."

The strategy worked.

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In last year's final, the top-ranked Romanian led Jelena Ostapenko by a set and 3-0. She looked to be on the verge of claiming her first Grand Slam title on the Parisian clay, but fell apart and eventually lost to the unseeded Latvian in her second French Open final.

The script was different on Saturday at Roland Garros as Halep rallied past Sloane Stephens and did not crumble in the end.

"I was dreaming for this moment since I've started to play tennis," Halep said. "When I was down a break in the second set I thought `Everything is gone, I'm gonna start to relax and enjoy the match,' and I came back."