Karolina Muchova clinched her first title since 2019 as she overcame Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko in the Qatar Open final.
After her 6-4, 7-5 victory, the Czech player said it had “been a while since I won a tournament, so it’s nice to get that feeling again.”
The win — her first WTA 1,000 event title and second overall after the Korea Open seven years ago — will move Muchova from 19th to 11th in the updated world rankings on Monday.
In a clean opening set, the 29-year-old landed 75 per cent of her first serves, dropping just three points on them. Mboko, 19, managed to take a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Muchova broke twice to seal victory in 94 minutes.
Despite the defeat, Mboko, who started the 2025 season ranked outside the top 300, will jump into the top 10 as she currently holds the most match wins on the women’s tour this season. Acknowledging the loss, she said: “There are so many positives to take away.”
The next WTA 1,000 event got underway in Doha yesterday, but without Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, the world’s top two players. Sabalenka, who has been out of action since losing last month’s Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina, said she was “not feeling 100 per cent,” while Swiatek, a quarter-finalist in Doha, cited a “change of schedule.”
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