Pliskova champion in Doha

A dominant Karolina Pliskova brushed aside the challenge Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki at the Qatar Total Open to pick up her second title of the year at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex yesterday.

For the Czech World No.3 it was her eight career title and her first one in Doha in four appearances, while Wozniacki was aiming to win her 27 title and the maiden one in Qatar.

The pair had met three times before, with Wozniacki, 26, winning on every occasion over Pliskova, who is two years younger.  Yesterday’s meeting the pair was the first one since 2014, and the first time Pliskova won.

“It’s an amazing week. The weather has been taxing with all the rain and rescheduling of matches. I am excited to have won the title,” said Pliskova after her win.

 “It means so much to me winning this tournament because it’s not easy beating these two girls (Dominika Cibulkova in semis and Wozniacki in the final), you saw last night and even today given the way they fight,” the 2016 US Open runner-up said.

Pliskova said her dominant style of play came through and helped her win the title.

“I was trying to play my natural game which is aggressive. Also, the serve was really important and for me it was working, so happy for that.”

Pliskova said her win in Qatar will earn her new fans.

“I wanted to win here in Doha since I had been losing in the early rounds the last three years. So now it’s exciting and finally I win some new fans here.

Wozniacki was disappointed with her loss in the final but happy with her performance in the tournament.

“I'm a little bit disappointed. It's a goal of mine to pretty much have won everything. But she played really well today. I thought I played well. I did my best. It's been a tough week. Yesterday I had two matches late at night. I just tried to recover as good as I could. Honestly, I feel like I'm playing really good tennis. I can still improve on some things. I'm really, you know, feeling positive and confident moving forward.

“It was very tricky with the wind. I think she served better than me in these conditions. Obviously she's already a big server. But I think she took advantage of that a little more,” she added.

The Czech, seeded second in Doha took things under control from the very start raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Wozniacki, the former World No. 1 in 2010 and 2011, but now ranked at 18, fought to hold her serve in the fifth game to make it 4-1.

In the next game, Wozniacki, who was making her eight appearances in Doha and finished runner-up in 2011, broke the second seed for the first time to make it 4-2.

Thereafter, the two-time Grand Slam finalist from Denmark tried to make a fight of it, but had problem in getting her length right on her returns, leading to several unforced errors.

In the end, Pliskova, who recently guided his country to the Fed Cup title, won the first set 6-3.

In the second set, Wozniacki, seemed to have tightened the loose ends of the game and was more accurate in her returns.

The Dane managed to hold on to her serve till the ninth game, but Pliskova made the breakthrough move to take an upper hand at 5-4 and then broke in the next game to win the set and the tournament.