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Elina Svitolina of Ukraine capped a stirring run at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday by winning the most prestigious title of her career. The seventh-seeded Svitolina turned in a dominant performance with a 6-4, 6-2 over former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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In winning her first Premier 5 title, Svitolina followed up her semifinal upset of No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber by dispatching the 10th-seeded Wozniacki in 70 minutes.
"It's very special for me," Svitolina said following the match. "I've played very amazing tennis this week and I'm happy it happened in Dubai. It's the first trophy for me at such a big tournament, so it's very special for me."
The match turned in the 10th game of the opening set. Svitolina was serving at 0-40 and facing three break points, but Wozniacki was unable to convert and wound up losing the set.
The victory provided an added bonus for the 22-year-old Svitolina -- she will jump from her world 13th ranking to No. 10.
"I've dreamed for all my life to be in Top 10," Svitolina said. "It's a very amazing feeling to enter Top 10, and do it by winning the tournament. I'm very excited for the season and very excited I could win this tournament."
Wozniacki, who lost to Karolina Pliskova in last week's final at Doha, Qatar, grabbed an early 2-1 lead in the second set, but Svitolina rattled off the next five games to close out the match.
"It's been a good two weeks for me -- two finals, lots of matches," Wozniacki said. "Making another final here is definitely great, and I'm already excited to be back."
