Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung won her first WTA Tour doubles title of the year and the 22nd of her career at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.
Unseeded Chuang and her Croatian partner Darija Jurak upset second-seeded French duo Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-4 in 75 minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
The Taiwanese-Croatian pairing saved two of five match points and converted five of six, winning 59 of the 109 points contested to claim the title in the United Arab Emirates.
Photo: Screen grab from Chuang Chia-jung’s Facebook page
“Thanks for all the support of our friends — this finally did not let you down,” Chuang wrote on Facebook.
Without a doubles partner at the start of last week, Jurak said she was “lucky” Chuang chose her for the tournament and they formed a good partnership very quickly.
“It is chemistry. She is such a calm person and that is what I like. When things are not going well, she keeps it casual,” Jurak told local daily the National.
Asked whether they had considered extending their partnership, the Croatian said they would be returning to play with their regular partners this week at the Qatar Open in Doha.
“We are sticking to the plan and hope for the best,” Jurak told the National. “This week, we used our opportunities, but next week in Doha we have our regular partners. We are not going to change, because we have a commitment to our partners.”
Jurak is teaming up with Nicole Melichar of the US in Doha, while Chuang is paired with Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia.
It was Jurak’s second WTA Tour doubles title after she won in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2014 alongside Megan Moulton-Levy of the US.
In the singles final, Sara Errani of Italy trounced Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-2 to win her ninth career title on Saturday.
Errani was a runner-up in Dubai before, losing the 2013 final to Petra Kvitova.
“It is an unexpected title for me,” Errani said. “You work to be ready for the matches, but you never know which days you can play better or worse. The only thing I know is that I was ready to suffer, to stay on the court if there were bad moments.”
Strycova was trailing 6-0, 2-0 when the crowd cheered her as she came out to serve the third game. After Strycova finally won that game with a backhand volley, she raised her hands in a victory gesture.
“This is one of the days where you try everything and then nothing is working,” Strycova said. “I tried everything and I could not put one ball in. I do not know why, what happened, but it is just sometimes how it is in tennis.”
Errani became the first Italian to win the Dubai title on her fifth match point when Strycova netted the final shot.
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