Svitolina claims Dubai title and secures top 10 place
The Ukrainian secured her second title of the 2017 WTA season at the Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight sets victory over Caroline Wozniacki.
Caroline Wozniacki suffered final heartache for the second time is as many tournaments as Elina Svitolina claimed the Dubai Tennis Championships title on Saturday.
Last week the Dane was beaten by Karolina Pliskova in Doha, and despite a series of strong performances in the earlier rounds she was again unable to claim a trophy.
Straight-sets Svitolina
Svitolina's groundstrokes were just too good for the former world number one, the Ukrainian winning 6-4 6-2 to extend her winning streak to 12 matches - and seal a place in the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time.
There was little between the pair in the opening exchanges, both players favouring the baseline and producing some fine groundstrokes.
Svitolina got the crucial break in the fifth game and then battled hard to hold on as Wozniacki upped the tempo, the Dane saving two set points before missing three chances to level things up late on.
Having taken the opening set, Svitolina turned the screw in the second as Wozniacki's serve faltered badly - the seventh seed winning the final five games in a row to take the title.
It is another blow for Wozniacki in Dubai having reached at least the last four on five occasions since her triumph in 2011.
For Svitolina it is a second win of the season and sixth of her career, while also maintaining her 100 per cent record against Wozniacki.