Jessica Pegula, who turns 32 on Tuesday, celebrated it a few days earlier by beating Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-4 on Saturday to lift the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships trophy for the first time.
Speechless after that fight. I really tried to put myself out there, and I played like there’s no tomorrow, I just tried to give every effort… Mentally, I think, especially yesterday’s match, I was down a set and 3-1, and I fought back, which made me feel free today. I trusted the things we worked on and it paid off. Jessica Pegula
“I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present. I’m just super proud of myself. I got to play at a very high level, it was great,” Pegula said in her on-field interview. “I feel like if you can get off to a quick start, it eases the nerves a little bit.”
It took the No. 4 seed American 72 minutes to dispatch Ukraine’s 7th seed and secure her 10th WTA Tour singles title, her first since last June in Bad Homburg, Germany, and her fourth at the WTA 1000 level.
Pegula, who is only the third American to win the Dubai title, is on a run of seven consecutive semi-final appearances, but this is her first trophy in that span.
The other American champions in Dubai were Lindsay Davenport in 2005 and Venus Williams in 2009, 2010 and 2014.
This week, for the second time in her career after the 2023 WTA Finals, Pegula achieved four Top 20 wins at one event, with her victories over Iva Jovic in the Last 16, Clara Tauson in the quarter-finals, Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals, and now Svitolina in Saturday’s final.
Svitolina has won Dubai twice, in 2017 and 2018, but fell short of her 20th singles title after another strong week, in which she endured three grueling 3-setters against Belinda Bencic and Antonia Ruzic before beating Coco Gauff on Friday night.
The 31-year-old won the Auckland Classic in January and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, while this is only her fifth defeat in a WTA Tour final, compared to 19 wins, and her wait at No. 20 will have to wait a few more weeks, but she maintains a 79.2% winning percentage in the final and consolidated her Top 10 position with her run in Dubai.
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Pegula opened the championship match with three consecutive service breaks against a clearly tired Svitolina, who double-faulted five times and won only 64.1% of the points on her first serve, 25 of 39.
The Ukrainian led 2-1 in the second set before Pegula recorded the only service break of the set in the fifth game, and the American, who saved two of three break points throughout the match, closed Svitolina with an ace on her third match point.
“Speechless after that fight. I really tried to put myself out there, and I played like there’s no tomorrow, I just tried to put in all the effort,” Pegula said.
The efficient victory was in stark contrast to Friday’s semi-final victory against Anisimova, when she rallied from a set and a breakdown to win, 1-6 6-4 6-3.
“Mentally I think, especially in yesterday’s match, I was down a set and 3-1, and I fought back, which made me feel free today,” Pegula said. “I trusted the things we worked on and it paid off.”
Svitolina started her remarks at the presentation ceremony by speaking directly to Pegula: “It was a tough match today, but congratulations Jess, for this great week for you and your team.
“For me personally it was a great week. I had a lot of great fights and today unfortunately a bit short, but still very happy to play here, good tennis, a good tournament. I have always loved playing here, so yes, a very, very good feeling.”
Pegula improved to 6-3 against Svitolina, a head-to-head series involving two of the best players yet to win a Grand Slam singles title, both of whom are ranked in the Top 10.
“It was a great atmosphere, especially the last two nights, not only supporting me, but supporting all the girls here who compete and fight so hard every day all week,” Pegula said at the trophy presentation. “We really appreciate it. The best thing for us is that we can play in front of the fans, so thank you very much for coming.”
Elina Svitolina powered through three grueling 3-setters to reach the final, but Jessica Pegula proved a step too far for the seventh seed in the trophy match
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From the opening game it was clear that the match was on Pegula’s racket, and although she dropped the first two points, she won the next ten, beating Svitolina in the opening game, and again two games later, on her way to a 3–0 lead.
Svitolina got a temporary reprieve with a break for 3-1, but Pegula broke straight back for 4-1, and after the Ukrainian saved a set point and held on for 5-2, the American held off to take the first set in 34 minutes.
Pegula refused to let Svitolina build up steam in the second, and when the Ukrainian held at love for 2-1, she responded with a love hold of her own.
She then showed off her trademark forehand, combining it with some high-level net play to break 3-2, and although Svitolina continued to fight as hard as she had all week, saving break points in each of her last two service games, Pegula never blinked.
The fourth seed fired one final forehand winner and sealed her championship bid with an ace.
“It’s a great birthday present for me,” Pegula said. “I can celebrate by flying back home in a few hours. But I’m just super happy to go home with the trophy. It was a great week.”
Pegula is the fourth player since 1990 to win multiple Tier I/WTA 1000 titles after turning 30, joining Martina Navratilova, Mary Pierce and Serena Williams.
Interestingly, Pegula, with 112 winners, finished the tournament as the most winners’ player at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2026, while Tauson, who defeated them in the quarter-finals, led the field with 40 aces.
Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula spoke during the trophy presentation on Saturday in Dubai
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Earlier on Saturday, Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani’s reunion for the season reaped immediate dividends at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as the fifth-seeded duo defeated Germany’s Laura Siegemund and Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-1 6-3 in the doubles final for their second career WTA 1000 title together and their first trophy in four years as a team.
They had played together on and off from 2020 to 2023, reaching five finals and winning two titles, including the WTA 1000 in Montreal in 2021, but their partnership ended when Stefani suffered a serious knee injury at the 2021 US Open.
Upon her return, they won the WTA 250 in Chennai in 2022, and also played together for the 2023 Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami.
After dissolving their respective partnerships in 2025 with Timea Babos and Erin Routliffe, they found their way back to each other and came out strong in Dubai after losing in the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the Qatar Total Open in Doha.
Three of their four matches leading up to the final were won in a match tiebreak, and they saved three match points by beating Mexico’s Giuliana Olmos & Pegula in the quarter-finals.
In the semi-finals they took revenge on fourth-seeded Kazakh Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, the pair who defeated them in the penultimate round of their first two events this season.
Doubles champions Luisa Stefani & Gabriela Dabrowski and runners-up Vera Zvonareva & Laura Siegemund pose with their trophies after the final on day 7 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
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There was no need for a comeback against Siegemund & Zvovareva after Dabrowski & Stefani started strongly.
Down 1–0 to start the match, they saved two break points in their first service game of the match, and after holding serve, won 9 of the next 10 games to establish a commanding 6–1, 4–1 lead.
Siegemund and Zvonareva tried to close the gap late but were unable to, and after saving 3 break points with Zvonareva serving in the 6th game, they had a 0-40 chance to get the match back on serve, but saw Dabrowski escape with the hold.
“I am very happy that we have won our first title here in Dubai,” Stefani said afterwards. “You don’t do a WTA 1000 every week, so I am very happy with this victory and proud of our team.”
Overall, the win is Dabrowski’s sixth title at WTA 1000 level, and Stefani’s fourth, and it will put the Canadian at a new career-high of second in the world in the PIF WTA Doubles Rankings on Monday.
Siegemund and Zvonareva, meanwhile, played their first final together since winning the WTA Finals in 2023.
“Rankings, they come, they go – I’m more interested in having a great partnership, and consistently going deep in tournaments,” Dabrowski said. “That’s always been my goal. So I’m very happy to have achieved that. But a ranking doesn’t happen on its own; it’s about all the people who help you make it happen… so without them I couldn’t have reached that number.”
Dabrowski is a breast cancer survivor and she dedicated this latest victory to her best friend’s father, who is himself battling cancer.
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