Karolina Muchova is the Doha Champion! The Czech star defeated Canada’s Victoria Mboko 6-4 7-5 in the Qatar TotalEnergies Open final, ending a seven-year title drought with a love grab on Valentine’s Day.
Wearing the Adidas Melbourne Wow Pro DressNo. 14 seed Muchova captured the second title of her career and her first at the WTA 1000 level. Her run to the Doha crown included wins over Jaqueline Cristian, Tereza Valentova, former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, Anna Kalinskaya, Maria Sakkari and, in the final, Mboko. Muchova’s only previous title came in 2019 in Seoul.
Facing the 19-year-old Mboko, who was chasing her second WTA 1000 title, Muchova broke and led 4-3. After consolidating the break, she earned a set point on Mboko’s serve, but the Canadian fended it off. However, the resistance was short-lived as Muchova closed out the opening set in the next game.
The 2023 Roland Garros runner-up put Mboko under pressure with three break points at 2-2 in the second set. However, Mboko responded with flair, holding them off and appearing to be in control as she recorded her first break of the match for a 4-2 lead. But the advantage was short-lived. Muchova immediately hit back, breaking straight away and holding love to tie the score, 4-4.
From that moment on, the match turned decisively in Muchova’s favor. She broke Mboko 6-5 and got the perfect opportunity to serve for the championship. With nerves of steel, Muchova finished the match and claimed the Doha title with love.
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