Dubai Tennis Championships: Jelena Ostapenko beats Veronika Kudermetova to claim singles title

Ostapenko eased to victory after 65 minutes of play and is now projected to rise in the rankings from No.21 to No.13 on Monday. Former World No.5 Ostapenko will return to the Top 20 for the first time since October 2018. 

Ostapenko totally dominated the opening set, dropping just eight points as Kudermetova struggled to deal with her opponent's aggressive play. 

And although Kudermetova briefly showed signs of being able to turn the match around by leading 2-0 in the second set her advantage was short-lived.

Ostapenko levelled at 2-2 and broke again to lead 5-3, and although Kudermetova offered some late resistance by preventing her opponent from serving out the match, Ostapenko responded by breaking serve again and ended the contest on her second match point. 

What made her victory all the more remarkable is that she had to overcome no less than four former Grand Slam champions during the week, fight back from losing the first set on three occasions and to fend off a match point before overcoming Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals. 

"I'm really happy with the title," said Ostapenko after winning her fifth career title and first since Eastbourne in June 2021. "I think in general the whole week I was playing really well, had some great wins. 

I really was focusing, really ready for a battle today. Very focused the whole match I think, especially in the beginning. I mean, I played really well." Kudermetova, 

who overcame former world number one Victoria Azarenka and defending champion Garbine Muguruza on her way to the final, was seeking her second career title after winning in Charleston last year, and she was playing in her second final this year after finishing as runner-up in a pre-Australian Open event in Melbourne. 

Kudermetova exacted a measure of vengeance in the doubles final that followed, as she and Belgium's Elise Mertens defeated Ostapenko and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 6-3 to claim the title.