Karolina Muchova lifted her first WTA 1000 trophy at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Saturday after putting on an all-court tennis masterclass in which she defeated 19-year-old emerging talent Victoria Mbok 6-4 7-5.
The intensity of the feeling of winning, it’s just so nice. I try to enjoy it, because in tennis everything goes so fast. I think sometimes we forget to reflect on the good weeks, or small wins, or big wins. My next tournament starts tomorrow, so it’s very tough. But I’d like to stop for a moment, enjoy it with my team, and just go somewhere with them tonight, have a good time and maybe think a little more. Karolina Muchova
It is the Czech’s first title since the Korea Open in Seoul in 2019, surprisingly her only WTA trophy for such a talented player, who reached the final of the French Open in 2023, where she narrowly lost to Iga Swiatek.
“I would say I almost forgot the winning feeling because it’s been a really long time,” 14th-seeded Muchova admitted on court during the presentation ceremony. “Just to remind you, I was actually quite nervous before the match. I was thinking, ‘Okay, how am I going to deal with it, how am I going to make it?’, and then when you actually make it… and I handled that pressure, I think, very well in today’s match. I was just relieved, and the intensity of the feeling of winning is just so nice.”
Muchova has featured in the late stages of some of the biggest tournaments since winning her only title in 2019, reaching back-to-back US Open semi-finals in 2023 and 2024, as well as that final in Paris, but she has also suffered from injuries that have kept her sidelined for long periods.
Her victory on Saturday was a long time coming for the 29-year-old, who had lost in four finals since winning her only title in 2019, all in the elite competition in Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen, and only two active players have waited longer between their first and second titles, namely Sorana Cirstea, after 13 years, and Viktorija Golubic, with 8.
“The last time I played [a final]”I really thought I played well that week, and then I lost quite easily,” Muchova said of her 2024 China Open defeat to Gauff. “So I think, then you doubt yourself a little bit. Like, ‘Can I do it?’ Because you know, I hear it everywhere, everyone says I only have one title.
“It’s not that I would take it personally, or that it would describe my tennis, or me as a person, but I really wanted to prove that to myself, that I still have it in me and that I can win. So I would say I was just really proud of how I handled myself today.”
The Czech reached a career high of No. 8 in September 2023, and this latest victory moves Muchova from her current 19th spot to No. 11 in the updated WTA rankings on Monday.
© Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images
Fit and healthy to start the 2026 season, Muchova played a clean opening set, landing 75% of her first serves with just 3 points on them, and using her volley to great effect.
Mboko, the 10th seed, managed to take a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Muchova broke the Canadian twice to seal the win in 94 minutes.
They were deadlocked through the first six games before Muchova made her move and broke for 4–3, and after consolidation she held a set point on Mboko’s serve, and the Canadian thwarted the attempt.
The reprieve was short-lived, however, as Muchova served the set in the next game.
The Czech came out swinging again at the start of the second inning and had three break points at 2-all, but Mboko emphatically rejected them with a backhand winner, a smash and an ace.
A few points later, the 19-year-old fired her fourth ace of the match to keep the score at 3-2, and she continued to roll and broke Muchova for a 4-2 lead, her first of the match, but her momentum did not last.
Muchova broke straight back and held on for the equalizer at 4-all, setting up the match’s decisive break for 6-5, giving her the chance to serve for the title, and she did so calmly to finish the job.
Muchova’s first serve troubled Mboko all match, as the Czech won around 80% of her first serve points and dropped only 8 over the two sets, while she was also solid on her second serve, winning 55% of those points.
Meanwhile, Mboko generated and converted just the first break point, while she herself was broken three times by Muchova, who won more than 41% of her return points, largely by attacking the Canadian’s first throw, on which the 19-year-old won just 57% of the points for the match.
In total, the final result was 73 points for Muchova and 61 for Mboko, a difference that underlined the Czech’s lead while emphasizing how small the margins really were.
Karolina Muchova defeated Victoria Mboko in straight sets after an all-court tennis masterclass lasting one hour and 34 minutes
© Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images
Despite the defeat, Mboko, who started the 2025 season outside the Top 300, will vault into the Top 10 on Monday and have the most match wins on the WTA Tour this year.
The young Canadian was looking for her second WTA 1000 trophy after winning Montreal, and acknowledged that it was ‘not the result I wanted’, adding: “There are so many positives to take away.”
She is only the fourth Canadian to reach the Top 10 since the rankings were introduced in 1975, following Carling Bassett Seguso, Bianca Andreescu and Eugenie Bouchard.
With Mboko joining Mirra Andreeva in the Top 10, it will be the first time since 2009 that two teenagers have occupied a spot in the elite group, when Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki first achieved this.
“Making the final is generally positive, never negative,” Mboko said at her post-match press conference. “She played really great tennis. When I played Top 10 players, also my first time here, I didn’t have many expectations [for] myself.
“She was just sharper in the key areas. She was able to stay solid in the areas where I think I missed a lot more than she did. She had some really great shots that put me on the defensive.”
Qatar Open champion Karolina Muchova poses next to runner-up Victoria Mboko after the awards ceremony on Saturday in Doha
© Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images
Since the introduction of the 1000 format in 2009, only three players have achieved more WTA 1000 match victories before capturing a maiden WTA 1000 title than Muchova, at the age of 57, namely Maria Sakkari (65), whom she defeated in the semi-finals, Carla Suarez Navarro (64) and Madison Keys (62).
“The intensity of the feeling of winning, it’s just so nice,” Muchova said. “I try to enjoy it, because in tennis everything goes so fast. I think sometimes we forget to stop and think about the good weeks, or small wins, or big wins.”
“My next tournament starts tomorrow, so it’s very tough. But I’d like to stop for a moment, enjoy it with my team, and just go somewhere with them tonight, have a good time and maybe think a little more.”
The WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships start on Sunday, but without Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, the two best players in the world.
Sabalenka, who has been out of action since losing the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina last month, said she was “not feeling 100%”, while Swiatek, a quarter-finalist in Doha, pointed to a “change in schedule”.
On Saturday evening, Muchova promised herself a short celebration with one indulgence.
“We said with the team that after we’re done here, we’ll go get burgers together,” she said, laughing. “So I’m hungry, and I’m kind of looking forward to going with them, having a burger and celebrating a little bit.”
Then it’s off to Dubai, where the newly crowned Doha champions, seeded 15th, are likely to open against Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima on Monday.
Doha doubles champions Anna Danilina & Aleksandra Krunic pose with runners-up Hsieh Su-Wei & Jelena Ostapenko after the Qatar TotalEnergies Open doubles final on Saturday
© Mohamed Ali Abdalla/Getty Images
In Saturday’s doubles final, Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, the No. 4 seeds, rallied from 6-0, 5-2 to beat Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 0-6 7-6(3) [10-8]in an hour and 34 minutes, saving a championship point in the second set along the way.
By capturing the Qatar TotalEnergies Open doubles title, the reigning Australian Open runners-up earned their first WTA 1000 title as partners, and their second title together overall.
“It was a very strange match, with a lot of ups and downs for all four of us,” Krunic said during the trophy presentation. “It was somehow difficult to play today, so I’m glad we stayed there and took our chances. We didn’t have much in the first two sets, so we did what we could.”
“I’m glad we’re not the first speech again because I got a little sick [of being] the first to give a speech. It has happened many times.”
Five times to be exact, as Danilina & Krunic entered the final with a 1-5 record in championship matches and seemed to be heading for 1-6 after the lopsided opening set, in which Hsieh & Ostapenko broke for 2-0 and never looked back, abandoning their opponents in 23 minutes.
While Danilina & Krunic were the first to break through in the second for a 2-1 lead, they dropped four games in a row to fall behind 5-2, but then everything changed two games later.
Trailing 5-3, they failed to convert a break point, creating a decisive point that doubled as a championship point for Hsieh & Ostapenko, but Danilina & Krunic came through on the clutch moment.
They converted the break and held at 5-all, then broke Hsieh’s serve to love for the second time in the set to take a 6–5 lead, and their run of 4 straight games ended when Hsieh & Ostapenko broke back to force a tiebreak, only for Danilina & Krunic to rise again and win the last 4 points in the breaker to take the set and force a match tiebreak.
Danilina & Krunic won 5 straight points to take a commanding 8/3 lead, only for Hsieh & Ostapenko to close the gap to 8/7, but the No. 4 seeds stayed alive and converted their second match point to secure a dramatic title win in Doha.
Danilina now owns twelve WTA doubles titles. The 2023 US Open mixed doubles champion is also a three-time Grand Slam runner-up in women’s doubles, twice with Krunic, and now has two WTA 1000 titles on her resume.
For Krunic, this is WTA doubles title No. 9, followed by one singles title. After finishing second at the French Open and Australian Open last year, as well as last season in Wuhan, this in itself is the biggest title of her career.
Both are poised to reach new career highs when the PIF WTA Doubles Rankings are released on Monday, with Krunic expected to rise to No. 11 in the world as she inches closer to a Top 10 debut, while Danilina is set to improve on her career best by 1 spot with a rise to No. 7.
Hsieh & Ostapenko will also climb after their run to the finals, with both re-entering the Top 10 at 8 and 9 respectively.
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