Barbora Krejcikova shocked World No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets at the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Saturday to win her first WTA title of the year and the sixth of her career.
The world No. 30 ended the top seed’s dominance and winning run in the Middle East as she became just the fifth player ever to defeat the top three players in the world at one event, after overcoming Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Defeating the No. 1, 2 and 3 ranked players in the world on her way to the title ‼️
This is your moment, @BKrejcikova ✨#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/Hg41PhQCiA
— wta (@WTA) February 25, 2023
She joins Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Sabalenka as the only players to have beaten the top-three ranked players in the same tournament.
Krejcikova, who won the Roland Garros title in 2021, took the opening set after Swiatek sent a forehand long. It was the first set that the reigning US Open champion had dropped in the past two weeks.
The 27-year-old Krejcikova continued to overwhelm Swiatek with her aggressive ball-striking and service as she ended the game with six aces to the Pole’s two.
She took five of six break points, won 64 points and a total of 29 receiving points to emerge as champion in Dubai.
After the match, the Czech tennis player revealed her happiness at her victory against Swiatek.
“It means a lot. It was a great week and I was improving in every game. Today I showed my best tennis,” Krejcikova said.
“Iga motivates me every day, it was a great final and I’m definitely happy with the result.”
On winning her first WTA 1000 title, she said: “It’s a huge achievement.”
“I was enjoying all the matches and I love playing on big courts with the great atmosphere. I hope there’s going to be more matches like this for me.”
Krejcikova is set for a meteoric rise as she will climb from No. 30 to No. 16 when the rankings are updated on Monday.
