SEVENTH seed Simona Halep crushed eight-time winner Serena Williams in straight sets to win the women’s singles title of the Wimbledon Championships on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Romanian took only 56 minutes to upset the 37-year-old Williams 6-2, 6-2, winning her second Grand Slam title after the French Open victory in 2018.

Williams, who won her first Wimbledon title in 2002, found it hard to cope with the fast-moving Halep, making a total of 26 unforced errors against three by her rival.

Halep fell on her knees with arms raised to the sky in celebration. It was just her second victory over the 23-time Grand Slam champion in their 11 meetings. The first one came in 2014.

“It was the best match I have ever played,” Halep said. “I had nerves. My stomach wasn’t well before I came out on court. But I just concentrated on doing my best.

“It was my mum’s dream. She said when I was 10 that if I want to do something in tennis it is to play in the Wimbledon final.

“I have changed my game a bit to win more matches on the grass and this year I felt more that I could do more with the ball and I cannot wait to get back next year,” she said in front of a packed crowd in the Center Court.

Humble and grounded, Halep had already showed incredible resolve to win the 2018 Roland Garros title having lost all three of her previous Slam finals.

She further endeared herself by announcing before that Paris final that she “would be okay” if she lost again, as “no-one would have died.”

Halep, 27, is only the second Romanian woman to win a major after Virginia Ruzici claimed the 1978 French Open. Ruzici is now her manager.

Before her 2018 Roland Garros breakthrough, Halep had suffered three agonizing defeats when one set from glory at the majors.

She lost the 2014 Roland Garros final to Maria Sharapova and the 2017 championship match in Paris after leading Jelena Ostapenko by a set and 3-0.

Her third came earlier in 2018 against another perennial underachiever on the biggest stage, Caroline Wozniacki, in a marathon match in sweltering conditions at Melbourne Park.

Halep became world number one in August 2017 and her 2018 French Open win over Sloane Stephens made her the first player to win her first Grand Slam title while holding the top ranking.(SD-Xinhua)