DUBAI // Cagla Buyukakcay believes her hard work through the years is finally paying off as she capped her 2015 with the biggest win of her career at the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge.
Buyukakcay, ranked No 158 in the world, fought back after losing the first set to edge former world No 20 and second-seed Klara Koukalova 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a two-hour, 45-minute final at the Habtoor Grand hotel last evening.
It was the Turk’s third consecutive victory from a set down. She earlier fought back against defending champion and top seed Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarter-finals and compatriot Ipek Soylu in the semi-finals.
Buyukakcay, 26, was delighted with her consistency here. “It’s the perfect way to finish this season,” she said.
She was back on the court 30 minutes after her singles triumph and won the doubles title with Maria Sakkari 7-6, 6-4, topping Soylu and Elise Mertens.
“Every round was tough, but I played some of my best tennis the whole week, and that was important,” Buyukakcay said.
“Today it was so tough. I came back from 5-2 [in the first set], but then I lost the set. After that I believed again that I can win. I am really happy about my performance, mentally and physically. Everything was perfect. I won against good players this week, even top-100 players. So all the hard work is finally paying off.”
It was her first victory at a US$75,000 (Dh275,000) tournament and she will take home $11,400 and 115 ranking points as the singles champion.
She said she was happy the victory came in Dubai, where in February she scored her first (and only) win at a Premier-level WTA tournament, defeating Gabriela Dabrowski in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.
“I really love Dubai,” Buyukaksay said. “I won my first Premier match here and now I have won my first $75,000 tournament.
“I always enjoy Dubai and that is why we wanted to play our last tournament here in Dubai, despite the busy season.”
As she heads into the off-season with her most important victory, Buyukakcay said she hopes to come back a better player next season.
“This year, I was expecting to be in the main draws at the grand slams, which I didn’t do,” she said. “So I didn’t play really well in the grand slams, but I had my best ranking this year [No 108 in February], which is so important. It is the highest in Turkish history, too, so it was very important for me.
“But this was a year of learning for me because I played so many WTA main draws first time in my life, and I lost so many.
“I learnt something from each of these matches. So I am really happy with how things have panned out.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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