Barbora Krejcikova defeated top-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 in the Dubai Championships final on Saturday.
In the semifinal match against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and the final match against No. 3 Jessica Pegula, Krejcikova defeated the top three WTA players before defeating Swiatek. In the second round, No. 8 Daria Kasaktina was also defeated.
The Czech is the fifth woman to defeat the top three players in the world simultaneously since the Open era began.
“It’s a big achievement and I think it’s going to give me a lot of confidence that I can play with the best ones,” Krejcikova said.
With five breaks of Swiatek, the former winner of the French Open dominated the match. In the first set, the Pole grabbed two breaks back, but Krejcikova eventually played out a love break and held to love for the set.
She broke for 2-1 and 5-2 in the second and held serve with ease to win her sixth solo championship.
“I showed my best tennis this week,” Krejcikova said. “I was able to play my tennis but also hold the nerves.”
“When you play with Iga, you have to suffer, otherwise you’re not going to win because she’s everywhere,” she said. “She plays great shots. She likes to play long rallies. So you have to suffer. I don’t mind that.”
On a course where one of the top three players entering the final round typically wins, countrymen Yannik Paul and Marcel Siem, who are at completely different stages of their careers, are separated by just one stroke at the top of the leaderboard.
