Barbora Krejcikova stuns Iga Swiatek in straight sets to claim Dubai Tennis Championships title

Barbora Krejcikova produced a stunning upset of world No. 1 Iga Swiatek to take the Dubai Tennis Championships title in straight sets.

It was just her first sixth career WTA title, but made it a two-match winning streak against Swiatek. The Czech had also beaten Swiatek in the final of the Ostrava Open in October last year, and victory in Dubai takes her to a 2-2 career record against her.

The world’s top ranked singles player made her way into Saturday’s decider with a 6-4 6-2 victory on Friday.

Krejcikova reached the final the hard way, taking three sets to beat the United States’ Jessica Pegula 6-1 5-7 6-0. Pegula, ranked No. 2 in the world, was not Krejcikova’s only high profile victim.

She had also beaten world Belarusian No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 8 Daria Kasatkina.

Krejcikova started well when she broke Swiatek in the opening game of the match, and kept up the pressure to go 3-1 clear.

Swiatek held on and broke for herself to level at 3-3 despite struggling with her first serve.

However, her Czech opponent wasn’t going away and gradually took control as Swiatek faded.

Krejcikova broke Swiatek twice in succession as she took the first set.

The Czech was on a 15-match winning streak when winning the first set. This did not augur well for her Polish opponent who was also playing while under the weather.

Adding insult to illness, Swiatek was handed a time violation in the break between sets. The world No. 1 protested that she had only been warned shortly before exceeding the maximum time but the violation stood.

Despite the off-court issue, Swiatek swept through the opening game of the second set.

Krejcikova saved break point in the next game, to hold and level the set.

She took the next two games and a pivotal moment came with Swiatek 4-2 down in the second and facing break point.

A fantastic rally ensued and Krejcikova got the winner, but Swiatek challenged. The momentary review seemed to take an age but showed that the ball was indeed in and Krejcikova was just one game from the title.

The final game was almost a procession for Krejcikova, with Swiatek managing just a single point as the Czech served out the game, set, match, and championship.

In her on-court interview, Krejcikova gave kudos to her vanquished opponent.

She said: “I have to really admire Iga for what she’s done & what she’s doing. I have so much respect for her. To me, she’s a big inspiration. She motivates me every day.”

After an incredible week of work, Krejcikova is now set to rise from world No. 30 to No. 16 from next Monday.