Tennis-Halep conjures up match of her life to beat Serena

By Yaocheng Lee SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - French Open finalist Simona Halep produced her best ever tennis to stun Serena Williams 6-0 6-2 at the WTA Finals on Wednesday but the Romanian is keeping her feet firmly on the ground. She had suffered bitter defeats in her three previous encounters with the current world number one and had never beaten a top three player before. However, on her debut at the season-ending event, Halep played what she described as "the best match of my life" to hand Williams the joint heaviest defeat of her career. "It's the first time I've beaten Serena. It was a dream to beat one of the (Williams) sisters because they are very good players," said Halep also referring to Venus. "I played unbelievable shots. Sometimes I did winners with her and also aces, so it means a lot. I served well. I returned well. Everything went well for me today." A stunned Williams, the double defending champion who is looking for a fifth WTA Finals title, was full of praise for Halep, saying she had never seen her produce such good tennis. "I think Simona played really well and the best match of her career," the American said. "Personally, I've never seen her play like this -- ever." The demolition of Williams ranks second in Halep's list of achievements this year after she reached the French Open final before losing to Maria Sharapova in three sets. "I think it's the second after the final of the French Open. So it's very important, but the final was more important for me," Halep said. CAREER HIGH Eighteen months ago Halep was ranked a lowly 64th in the world -- an indication of what an amazing 18 months she has had. The 23-year-old climbed to a career high ranking of number two in August and is currently fourth. She has also become only the third Romanian to play in the WTA Finals and the first since 1998. Halep did not lose a set in reaching the French Open final in June, which had not happened at a grand slam for 17 years. She also became the first Romanian to reach a grand slam final since Virginia Ruzici in 1980. After Wednesday's match the 33-year-old Williams, who was on a 16-match winning streak at the Finals, offered the biggest testament to the huge improvement Halep has made. "To be quite frankly honest, I'm looking forward to our next meeting because she is making me wanting to go home and work hard and particularly train for her," she said. Halep is only the second woman to beat Williams in straight sets in a WTA Finals match after Kim Clijsters in 2002. However, she is clearly not going to let the eye-catching win go to her head and has her sights set firmly on her next Red Group match against Serbia's Ana Ivanovic. "I just want to think about the next round because it will be tough against Ivanovic," she said. "First, I have to forget this day, because it's really tough to forget it." (Editing by Ken Ferris)