Barbora Krejcikova claimed her maiden WTA 1000 title at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships by thrashing World No.1 Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 in the final on Saturday.
En route to the final, the Czech also beat World No. 3 Jessica Pegula (semifinals) and World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka (quarterfinals), making her only the fifth WTA player to beat the Top-3 ranked players in the same event.
By doing so, the Czech set social media abuzz, inviting lavish praise from tennis fans across the world. The New York Times' tennis correspondent, Christopher Clarey, called her a "true student of tennis," while several others also lauded her performance in the final.
Although some believed that a cold hampered Iga Swiatek during the final, they still gave credit to the World No. 30 for displaying great skills on the court to outlast the three-time Grand Slam champion.
“Barbora Krejcikova not only plays a lot of tennis. She watches a lot of tennis, above all her rivals. True student of the game, and it showed this week. Had to find a lot of different ways to win under duress against the best of the WTA. Beat # 1 Swiatek, #2 Sabalenka, #3 Pegula,” wrote Christopher Clarey.
“Iga was clearly very hampered by her cold, but Krejcikova is a player that can push and make Iga’s life hell on a good day. Full credit to her for winning a 1000- she deserves it! Hyped to see her in the top 10 again soon. But also acknowledge that shes beaten a v poor Swiatek.” he wrote.
Here are some more reactions to Krejcikova’s victory:
"When you play with Iga Swiatek, you have to suffer": Barbora Krejcikova after defeating the World No. 1 to claim the title in Dubai
Barbora Krejcikova played excellent tennis over the past week to claim her first WTA 1000 title at the Dubai Duty-Free Championships. In the final, the Czech took just 91 minutes to beat the World No. 1 in straight sets to claim the sixth title of her career.
When asked about playing against Iga Swiatek, the 27-year-old was full of praise for her opponent, remarking that she had to suffer a lot to get through her in the end.
"When you play with Iga, you have to suffer, otherwise you're not going to win because she's everywhere. She plays great shots. She likes to play long rallies. So you have to suffer. I don't mind that."
"It's always nice to win a tournament, especially such a big tournament also in Dubai. I was here in the finals a couple years ago. It's a tournament that everything started for me in singles. Very, very special place," Barbora Krejcikova said.
The Czech's win means she will shoot up in the WTA rankings from World No. 30 to World No. 16 when they are updated on Monday.