Barbora Krejcikova beats Swiatek in Dubai final, becomes first woman to beat her twice as No. 1

Barbora Krejcikova completed a dream week at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai on Saturday night, defeating No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 6-2, to capture her first WTA title of the year, and the sixth of her career—it’s also the second-biggest title of her career, after Roland Garros in 2021.

She’s also the first player to beat Swiatek twice since she rose to No. 1 on the WTA rankings last April, having also beaten the Polish trailblazer in a marathon final in Ostrava last October, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

“It definitely means a lot,” Krejcikova said of her first WTA 1000 title.

“It was a great week for me. I think I was improving with every single game, and today I finished on my best. I’m really happy with the result.

“Also I have to really admire Iga, just for what she has done, what she is doing. I have so much respect for her. To me she’s a big inspiration, and she motivates me every day.”

Krejcikova was dialed in from the start of the match, breaking in the very first game and eventually building a 3-1 lead. Though Swiatek got the break back for 3-all, Krejcikova broke again right away for 4-3—and though Swiatek got that break back too to tie it up at 4-all, Krejcikova then shifted into overdrive, reeling off the next eight points in a row to break at love and then hold at love to grab the first set.

The two traded holds for the first few games of the second set, but Krejcikova caught fire one more time, winning the last five games in a row from 1-2 to run away with the second set, and the match.

The Czech ripped two aces and a big forehand winner to close it out.

She finished the match with 23 winners to 19 unforced errors—meanwhile, Swiatek had 10 winners to 27 unforced errors on the day.

In addition to becoming the first player to beat Swiatek twice as No. 1, Krejcikova also added her name to the history books with her week.

Having beaten No. 2-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3-ranked Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals and semifinals the last two days, the Czech has become just the fifth woman in WTA rankings history (since 1975) to defeat the entire Top 3 at the same tournament.

"It was a huge achievement, what I was able to do this week," she said.

PLAYERS TO DEFEAT THE WTA TOP 3 AT THE SAME EVENT:
~ Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs, No. 3 Seles in SFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)
~ Serena Williams at 2002 Miami (d. No. 3 Hingis in QFs, No. 2 Venus in SFs and No. 1 Capriati in F)
~ Venus Williams at 2008 WTA Finals (d. No. 2 Safina in RR, No. 3 Serena in RR and No. 1 Jankovic in SFs)
~ Aryna Sabalenka at 2022 WTA Finals (d. No. 2 Jabeur in RR, No. 3 Pegula in RR and No. 1 Swiatek in SFs)
~ Barbora Krejcikova at 2023 Dubai (d. No. 2 Sabalenka in QFs, No. 3 Pegula in SFs and No. 1 Swiatek in F)

And it's even more historic—Krejcikova is actually the only one of the group to beat the Top 3 at the same event in three consecutive days.

Graf had a day off between Davenport and Seles, and another day off between Seles and Hingis; Serena had a day off between Venus and Capriati; and for Venus and Sabalenka, their Top 3 wins in the round robin of the WTA Finals were their first and third round robin matches.