Jessica Pegula gave herself an early birthday present by clinching her fourth WTA 1000 crown with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 victory over Elina Svitolina in the Dubai final on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded American denied Svitolina a chance to win a third title in the northern emirate, and improved her record against the Ukrainian to 6-3 head-to-head.
Pegula, who turns 32 on Tuesday, has made at least the semi-finals in each of her last seven tournaments and walks away from Dubai with a 10th career title.
Pegula fought back from a set and a break down in the semi-finals against Amanda Anisimova on Friday, while Svitolina battled through a three-hour marathon against Coco Gauff.
It was Svitolina who appeared to be suffering the most from the aftermath of the previous night, though, and it gave Pegula the chance to jump to a double-break lead early in the final, and she never looked back as she wrapped up the victory in 72 minutes.
“I couldn’t ask for a better birthday present. I’m just super proud of myself. I had to play at a very high level, it was awesome,” Pegula said in her on-court interview.
“I feel like when you can get off to a quick start, that eases the nerves a little bit.
“Mentally, I think, especially the match yesterday, I was down a set and 3-1, and I fought back, which made me feel free today. I trusted the things we’ve been working on and it paid off.”
Svitolina, a champion in Dubai in 2017 and 2018, has lots to be proud of, having reached her first WTA 1000 final since the 2018 Italian Open.
The 31-year-old returned to the top 10 earlier this month for the first time since coming back from maternity leave and has enjoyed a phenomenal start to 2026, amassing a 15-3 win-loss record.
Svitolina admits she didn’t expect to start off the year so strong.
“I actually went to Auckland to get some matches, just to try to find my rhythm. Just everything came together. I worked hard,” said the former world number three.
“Also, I think that break in September helped me, that month or two helped me to pick up myself mentally. I feel like I’m in a good place. I try to look a little bit into my game and my mentality from a different side.
“I’m ready to face difficult situations. That’s the most important thing, I feel.”
The Dubai tournament was struck with an unusually high number of withdrawals and retirements, with over 20 players, including the world’s top two Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, pulling out of the event or quitting before or during matches.
Still, the WTA 1000 event delivered a stellar semi-final line-up that featured four top-10 players, who fought for more than five hours across six sets.
“It just shows you the depth of women’s tennis. It just shows you the level is so high week in and week out. Even when you have a lot of players withdrawing, just because we’re missing a few, it doesn’t mean that we still can’t put on some great tennis,” stressed Pegula.
“My draw was very hard, it was a really tough draw. I was able to beat a couple top-10 players along the way. It definitely was not a cakewalk by any means.
“I’m super proud of the state our sport is in right now. I think it’s super strong.”
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