Tennis: Jessica Pegula Breaks Ukrainian Hearts To Win Dubai Title

2026-02-21 02:20:16

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Jessica Pegula broke Ukrainian hearts with a ruthless display as the American beat Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-4 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday.

The straight-set defeat ended Svitolina's hopes of joining Venus Williams as the second most successful champion in Dubai with three titles.

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A back-to-back winner on this Centre Court in 2017 and 2018, Svitolina was a pale shadow of the player who beat Coco Gauff in an enthralling three-hour semifinal battle on Friday night.

The 31-year-old Ukrainian was clearly struggling physically to cope with Pegula, who pounced on every opportunity to clinch her first Dubai title.

It was the first singles title of the year for Pegula, a semifinalist at the Australian Open last month.

The world number five also finally lifted a trophy following six back-to-back semifinal appearances, which included impressive runs to the last four stages at the US Open last year and the Australian Open this year.

Dubai is her 10th career title and fourth at the WTA 1000 level.

She also became the third American to win the Dubai title after Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams.

It was an early birthday present for Pegula who will turn 32 on February 24.

"It's a great birthday present for me, I will get to celebrate by flying back home in a few hours. "But I am super happy to go back home with a trophy. It was a great week," Pegula said during her victory speech after receiving the trophy.

The daughter of American billionaire Terry Pegula then thanked the Dubai Centre crowd for their support during the week.

"Thank you guys for coming out to support us, it was a great atmosphere, especially the last two nights," she said, referring to the two incredible semifinal battles on Friday.

While Svitolina overcame Gauff, Pegula produced an incredible come-from-behind victory over compatriot Amanda Anisimova in Friday's first semifinal.

"The crowd here was amazing, they were not only supporting me, but they were supporting all the girls for competing so hard every single day of the week. We really appreciate that because the biggest fun for us is to be able to play in front of fans. So thank you so much."

Svitolina, on the other hand, admitted to struggling physically after her brutal semifinal clash with Gauff which ended late on Friday.

"Well, definitely not ideal. But it is what it is. I cannot complain. I had a great match yesterday. Was very happy with the way I could win that match," she said.

"Still I want to look on this tournament with lots of positives, take only good things. For me that's the priority.

"I played great matches, beat good players. Of course in a final, it was tough. But Jess, she's so consistent. She's great player. I think here, you know, she really played great tennis. It is how it is. I'm still happy. Want to look from a positive side."

Meanwhile, G abriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil won the women's doubles title with a comprehensive 6-1 6-3 win over Russia's Vera Zvonareva and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

On Friday, Zvonareva and Siegemund beat the Romanian pair Jaqueline Cristian and Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 7-6 (8/6) in the first semifinal, and Dabrowski and Stefani overcame Aleksandra Krunić of Serbia and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan 4-6 6-2 10-6 in the second semis.