DUBAI: Elina Svitolina beat Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-0 to win the Dubai Championships for the second year in a row.
The fourth-ranked Ukrainian becomes only the third woman to defend the title, after Justine Henin (2003-2004) and Venus Williams (2009-2010).
Svitolina beat the 24th-ranked Kasatkina for the third time in as many meetings after the Russian had saved five match points during the week in two matches.
“It’s amazing to win here again,” 23-year-old Svitolina said. “Even being the defending champion is amazing.
“I was just trying to hit the ball onto the court and make her run today. At the end I’m very happy with how I played, with this whole week, actually.”
Kasatkina brought in the accumulated wear and tear of just over nine hours on court during the week, with the Russian blinking first in the final as she dropped serve to trail 3-2 on a wide return in the opener.
Kastakina saved three set points to hold at 4-5 before the champion served out the opener after 44 minutes on her fourth opportunity.
The top seed immediately consolidated her advantage, breaking to start the second set and quickly racing away to a 3-0 lead as the reserves of Kasatkina began to drain further.
Svitolina made it 4-0 with ease and cantered to victory in just 70 minutes to earn the 11th title of her career.
Elina Svitolina claims back-to-back Dubai titles
Elina Svitolina claims back-to-back Dubai titles
Liverpool’s Wirtz will score many more after Wolves winner, says Slot
- Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz in June for a reported fee of £100 million, with a further £16 million in potential bonuses
- The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday’s match
Florian Wirtz is beginning to find his feet at Liverpool and will keep getting better, manager Arne Slot said after the German midfielder scored his first goal for the Premier League champions in their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Liverpool signed Wirtz in June for a reported fee of 100 million pounds ($135 million), with a further 16 million pounds in potential bonuses.
The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday’s match, and Slot said his performances had been undervalued due to football’s obsession with statistics.
“I’m quite sure it was a relief for him. This I could see after his reaction after he scored the goal – and the same I saw with his teammates. I think they were really happy for him,” Slot told reporters.
“In football – rightly so, maybe – we mainly get judged on results, and individuals mainly get judged on goals and assists. Sometimes we tend to forget what else there is to do during a game.”
The Dutch manager called on Wirtz to keep going after ending his drought.
“He’s had multiple good games for us but I also feel he gets better and better every single game he is playing for us. He gets fitter and fitter and was getting closer and closer to his first goal,” he added.
“Then it was not a surprise to me that he scored one today, but he would probably be the first one to understand that one goal is not enough.
“He will score many more goals for us than only this one, but I also liked his performance during large parts of the game today. I think he was special in a lot of moments.”
Liverpool, fourth in the standings, next host 16th-placed Leeds United in a league match on January 1.
