Barbora Krejcikova took home the first WTA 1000 title of her career after pulling off a 6-4, 6-2 upset of World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the Dubai Tennis Championships women's singles final, here on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former World No.2 Krejcikova grabbed her first singles title of the year, and sixth of her career, with the 91-minute stunner of top seed Swiatek.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Saturday's win marked Krejcikova's fourth victory over a Top 10 player this week. That feat began in the second round, where the Czech had to save four match points against World No.8 Daria Kasatkina.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Following that escape, Krejcikova closed out the tournament by defeating the top three players in the WTA rankings in succession: No.3 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, and World No.1 Swiatek in the final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After losing their first two meetings, Krejcikova has had Swiatek's number in their last two encounters, both coming in finals. Krejcikova pulled off a gripping victory in last year's 3-hour and 16-minute Ostrava final, and she needed less than half that time to topple Swiatek again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Since finishing runner-up to Garbine Muguruza at this very event two years ago, Krejcikova has won six of her last seven WTA singles finals, including a Grand Slam title at 2021 Roland Garros. Her only lost final during this timeframe was to Paula Badosa at 2022 Sydney.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Krejcikova executed a commanding display in the final, handing Swiatek her first loss in the Pole's six career WTA 1000 finals. Along with firing six aces, Krejcikova won 13 of Swiatek's 17 second-service points (76.5 percent), leading to five service breaks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Swiatek twice came back from a break down during a back-and-forth first set, but Krejcikova took charge for good by earning a love break for 5-4, punctuated by a backhand crosscourt winner. A love hold gave Krejcikova the last eight points of the opening frame.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Another winning crosscourt backhand gave Krejcikova the first break of the second set as well, and she broke again for 5-2 after a rally on break point ended with an outrageous lob plumb on the baseline:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After that, Krejcikova served out the match with ease to notch another upset in Dubai.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Following her latest exploits, Krejcikova is projected to ascend from World No.30 to World No.16 in Monday's updated singles rankings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After that, Krejcikova served out the match with ease to notch another upset in Dubai.<\/p>\r\n\r\n