Simona Halep fought back from a set and a break down to break her grand slam hoodoo and defeat American Sloane Stephens in an entertaining French Open singles final on Sunday morning (AEST).

Halep – the world’s top-ranked player – entered the Roland Garros finale without a grand slam win despite reaching three deciders, two of which were in Paris.

And this final looked like following a familiar script before the Romanian produced a superb fightback to claim a 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory in two hours and three minutes.

Stephens made a fast start, storming to a 4-1 lead in an opener she claimed without too much fuss as her opponent struggled on serve.

A tense first game of the second set saw Stephens squander three break points before eventually claiming an advantage she quickly consolidated into a 2-0 lead.

Halep looked bereft of ideas but finally started to find her range as Stephens’ unforced error count rose quickly.

And once the Romanian levelled the match at one set apiece, she never looked back, racing through the decider to the delight of a pro-Halep crowd.

“Thank you, guys – it was amazing and I felt your support,” Halep said afterwards.

“In that last game I felt that I can not breathe anymore. I just tried not to repeat the last year [Halep lost the 2017 French Open final].

“I did everything I could. It’s amazing what is happening now. Honestly, I cannot believe it.

“I was dreaming for this moment since I started to play tennis so thank you and I’m really happy it has happened in Roland Garros in Paris, my special city.

“I see the Romanian flag in the crowd, thanks to my friends and my family and to all the Romanian and French fans … I wish in the future to play more finals here, because it’s a really beautiful tournament and it is my favourite one.”

Halep added that her comeback was inspired by a heart-to-heart – with herself.

“She [Stephens] is a great player and it’s always tough to play against her,” she said.

“She was very strong on court and when I was down a break in the second set I said, “Okay, everything is gone, I have just start [sic] to relax and to enjoy the match … and I came back.”

Stephens praised Halep for her breakthrough victory in the immediate aftermath.

“To Simona, congratulations on your first [grand] slam. It looks great on you,” she said.

Stephens faded after a bright start. Photo: AAP

“[There is] no one else I’d rather lose to than the number one in the world.”

Halep became just the second Romanian woman to win a grand slam. Virginia Ruzici also won the French Open back in 1978.

‘Go choke on that’: Halep proves a popular winner

Halep’s status as one of the WTA Tour’s most-liked players was proven as several of her rivals took to Twitter to reflect on the victory.

German Andrea Petkovic – a former top-10 player now ranked 107th in the world – sent a message to Halep’s critics.

“For all the haters who said she’ll never win a slam because she’s mentally weak, go choke on that,” Petkovic posted.

“Everyone has their own timing and supposed failures are often just stepping stones in an individual’s life.”

Czech star Petra Kvitova added a message of her own.

Simonaaaaa! You did it. So happy for you. Enjoy every second. You deserve this moment so much 🎉❤️ #RG18

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) June 9, 2018

Halep’s victory means the last seven ladies singles grand slam titles have been won by different players, a run that started with Angelique Kerber and has included successes to Serena Williams, Jelena Ostapenko, Garbine Muguruza, Stephens and Caroline Wozniacki.