If Barbora Krejcikova is Iga Swiatek's kryptonite, what can rest of WTA Tour learn from Dubai final?

For a player who has been described as a “great problem solver”, Iga Swiatek might have been presented with her biggest problem to solve. In the last five months, Barbora Krejcikova has twice done what most of the WTA Tour has been unable to do over the last year: beat Swiatek. Ad Former French Open champion Krejcikova halted Swiatek’s dominance Middle East dominance in impressive fashion as she won the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 6-4 6-2 against the world No.

1. It is Krejcikova’s second victory over Swiatek in a final after she also beat her to clinch the Ostrava Open title in October. WTA DubaiKrejcikova upsets Swiatek to claim Dubai Tennis Championships titleYESTERDAY AT 17:46 Krejcikova is the only player to beat Swiatek in her 15 tour finals aside from Polona Hercog, who denied Swiatek the title in her first WTA final in April 2019.

So why has Krejcikova seemingly been Swiatek’s kryptonite? «I love challenges,» said Krejcikova by way of explanation after the Dubai final. «When there is somebody that is really tough, I just love to go out there and see where I am, if I can beat this player, if I cannot beat this player. It just gives me extra, extra push.

»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." Krejcikova did not just suffer against Swiatek, she had a smart gameplan, seized control of the contest early on, and showed resilience and courage when the world No. 1 came back at her.