Garbine Muguruza ended a two-year title drought by claiming a maiden Dubai crown with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 victory over unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova on Saturday. The ninth seed was contesting her third final of 2021 and became the first Spanish woman to triumph in the emirate thanks to her success over Krejcikova. Muguruza, who had lost her last three finals, had not won a title since Monterrey in April 2019 prior to this week in Dubai. 

"It's a great achievement. I've been coming here for many years in a row and I felt like I was close, but not enough, and today finally I got the champion's trophy. "I'm very happy after losing a few finals in a row, to get this one," said the 27-year-old Muguruza. "It paid off this week. The other weeks I was close. Today I fought harder and I'm very happy about it." The two-time major champion now owns a tour-leading 18 match-wins in 2021 and a total of eight winner's trophies in her cabinet. It is the former world number one's biggest title since Cincinnati in 2017. "I feel like the consistency on tour is so hard to get. Being able to play three finals (this year) is a great sign that we are on the right way," said Muguruza, who was runner-up in Doha last week, as well as at the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne last month. A netted forehand from Muguruza handed Krejcikova a break of serve in the opening game but the Spaniard retaliated immediately to draw level.