Sara Bejlek won her first ever WTA Tour title by lifting the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open crown on Saturday.
The Czech qualifier was made to work before securing the first set against Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 at the International Tennis Centre at Zayed Sports City, before storming through the second set 6-1.
Her victory was the first WTA Tour title of the 20-year-old's career, having previously won four times on the Challenger Tour.
She started out last week having to qualify for the main event proper. She went on to beat Ashlyn Krueger in the last 32, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the last 16, Sonay Kartal in the quarter-finals and Clara Tauson in the semis.
Bejlek is the second straight unseeded champion in Abu Dhabi after Belinda Bencic in 2025. She is the first qualifier to take the crown in the event's five-year history. She is also its first Czech champion.
After reaching a career-high ranking of No 75 in November last year, Bejlek will move into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings next week.
