Krejcikova motivated by the best after first WTA 1000 victory in Dubai
"I improved with every match and I played my best tennis in the final," she enthused after her impressive Dubai journey.
"To beat Iga, who is the best in the world, is a great feeling," Krejcikova said after her triumph. It was the second time since the Pole became world No. 1 that she had beaten Swiatek, something no one else has managed to do.
She first beat her 5-7, 7-6 6-3 last October in Ostrava and then destroyed her 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and a half in Saturday's final in Dubai.
"I like big matches, I want to play them. Playing against the best makes me want to do my best."
Apart from this championship, she is also the only player in history to beat the three top-ranked players in the world in just three days. This has happened just four times across one tournament.
Namely Aryna Sabalenka (24) at the 2022 Tournament of Champions, Venus Williams (42) at the same event in 2008, Serena Williams (41) in Miami 2002 and Steffi Graf (53) at the 1999 French Open.
The native of Brno, in addition to Swiatek, defeated the world number two Jessica Pegula (29) of the USA 6-1, 5-7 6-0 on Friday. Before her on Thursday, she also beat Sabalenka, third in the WTA rankings 0-6, 7-6, 6-1.
She was also motivated by the Czech fans who showed their support even when Krejcikova was not doing so well. "I spend a lot of time in Dubai, preparing during the off-season. This tournament is special for me," added the second Czech winner of the tournament after Petra Kvitova (32).
In the updated WTA rankings, Krejcikova moves to 16th place between Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova (18). "I believe that the win will give me confidence that will help me in other tournaments and I will continue to do well," hopes the player, who will also play in Indian Wells next month.
Swiatek also looked back on her final match against the Czech: "It's hard for me to evaluate why I failed. I don't know if it was my fault or Barbora forced me to do it with her performance. I will have to analyse it."