Top seed Elina Svitolina became the third woman to defend the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title on Saturday, defeating Russia's Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-0 in the final. World number four Svitolina, who had won both her previous meetings against Kasatkina, dominated the early phase and went on to record a break of serve in the fifth game. Kasatkina, ranked 24 in the world, saved three set points but was inconsistent with her ground-strokes as Svitolina wrapped up the opening set in the 10th game. The victory puts Svitolina in the company of Justine Henin and Venus Willliams as the third women's player to win successive Dubai titles. "I was just trying to hit the ball in the court and was happy with how I handled the pressure throughout the week.

Source: dna February 24, 2018 18:11 UTC