Tennis News

DOHA, Qatar – No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova put together a dominating performance over Caroline Wozniacki to take home her eighth career title – and her second of 2017 – at the Qatar Total Open.

The Dane went into their final matchup with a 3-0 lead in the pair’s head-to-head record, but Pliskova didn’t read the script and overpowered the former World No.1, 6-3, 6-4.

“I think I’m having a great start to the year, which is always important,” Pliskova said after the match.

“To beat players like Cibulkova and Wozniacki is something amazing. I’ve never beat them before, but I was trying really hard this week so I’m really happy with my wins here.”

Unbelievable tennis from @KaPliskova! ?? pic.twitter.com/S7zVMZ9F3W

— WTA (@WTA) February 18, 2017

The Czech was in charge from the start, not showing any signs of fatigue after playing two matches on the same day on Friday, where she set a personal record for most aces in a single match. She continued her momentum against Wozniacki, employing her trademark controlled aggression to surge ahead a double break and take a 4-0 lead.

Wozniacki changed up her strategy to get on board and halt her opponent’s momentum, stepping into the court and running Pliskova from side to side to target the Czech’s biggest weakness: her court movement. But after dropping three straight games, Pliskova got right back on track to reel off the final two and pocket the opening set.

The pair stayed on par in a tightly drawn final set, Pliskova brushing aside Wozniacki’s lone break chance to stay on course. The Czech finally got her chance in the final game, flicking over a short, low-floating forehand which Wozniacki buried into the net to give Pliskova the match.

.@KaPliskova captures @QatarTennis title!

Beats Wozniacki 6-3, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/28rO130GKX

— WTA (@WTA) February 18, 2017

Pliskova’s dominating performance is reflected in the numbers: despite Wozniacki hitting a meager five unforced errors during the entire match, she was only to hit nine winners – just a third of Pliskova’s 27. The Czech’s serve was in full swing too, winning 69% of first serve points and hitting four aces.

“It’s been a great week, despite the tough conditions for all of us,” Wozniacki reflected at the trophy ceremony. “To be here in the final is something to be really proud of, the way I’ve been playing this week.

“I’m very disappointed with the loss but Karolina was playing really well. She deserved this one, but I’m going to try to get my revenge next time.”

With the victory, Pliskova will jump to No.2 on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard, leapfrogging Australian Open finalist Venus Williams.

Every week wtatennis.com brings you 10 Things To Know about the week – who is playing, where and much more. This week the Road To Singapore goes through Dubai and Rio de Janeiro…

1) Dubai is a significant stop on the Road To Singapore.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is a Premier event and part one of the WTA’s fortnightly tour of the Middle East – part two is the Qatar Total Open. There’s over $2 million on the line, with the winner pocketing $465,480 and 470 points for the Road To Singapore leaderboard.

2) A strong line-up has made the trip to Dubai.
Even with a couple a high-profile withdrawals, four Top 10 players – and 10 of the Top 20 players in the world – are in Dubai, with the Top 8 seeds being Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Carla Suárez Navarro, Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Roberta Vinci and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

3) Halep is looking to get back on track.
Defending champion Halep arrives in Dubai on the back of an indifferent start to 2016. After a surprise semifinal loss to Kuznetsova in Sydney, the Romanian suffered an even bigger shock at the Australian Open, crashing out to qualifier Zhang Shuai in the first round. She then split her two singles rubbers on Fed Cup duty against the Czech Republic, beating Kvitova but falling to Pliskova. Will she get back on track in Dubai?

4) Back-to-back titles no easy task.
Halep is looking to become just the third player to defend their title at Al Garhoud Street. The other two are Venus Williams (2009-10) and Justine Henin (2003-04, 2006-07).

5) If Kvitova clears early hurdles, watch out.
Kvitova has failed to win back-to-back matches here in four of her five appearances, in 2009 (to Julia Schruff), 2011 (to Ayumi Morita), 2014 (to Suárez Navarro) and 2015 (to Suárez Navarro). But in her only other try she went all the way to the title, in 2013 (beating Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic and Agnieszka Radwanska along the way).

6) Welcome to the club, Belinda.
By reaching the final last week in St. Petersburg, Belinda Bencic guaranteed herself a place inside the Top 10 for the first time in her career. Bencic is the 116th player to break into the elite bracket since computer rankings were introduced in 1975.

7) Halfway across the globe, the Latin American spring kicks off in Rio.
The Latin American leg of the tour kicks off this week with the Rio Open. Headlining the draw is home favorite and No.1 seed Teliana Pereira, who will be joined by Johanna Larsson, Danka Kovinic and Christina McHale.

8) Pereira hungry for WTA hat-trick.
Last April, Pereira became the first Brazilian in 27 years to win a WTA title when she triumphed at the Claro Open Colsanitas, in Bogotá. Eager to prove this was no flash in the pan, title number two soon followed at Florianopolis’ Brasil Tennis Cup. Will she score a hat-trick in Rio?

9) Hunting down Maria’s record.
No, not that Maria. In Bogotá, Pereira is the third Brazilian in the Open Era to win a WTA title, after Maria Bueno (who won three) and Neige Dias (two). A Brazilian winning in Brazil is even rarer, though. Pereira is just the second Brazilian in the Open Era to win a WTA title on home soil – Dias achieved the feat once, doing it over in Guaruja in 1987.

10) Find out where you can watch live action this week.