"I really wanted this final" said Jelena Ostapenko after snapping title drought

Jelena Ostapenko snapped her title drought with a triumph in Dubai and it came after a brilliant performance in the final against Veronika Kudermetova.

Jelena Ostapenko ended a sterling week with her fifth career WTA singles title, as the Latvian cruised past Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 6-0, 6-4 to claim the crown at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday night. Ostapenko eased to victory after 65 minutes of play and is now projected to rise in the rankings from No.21 to No.13 on Monday.

She said:

I think I played really well today. In general, I’m really happy with the whole week, because it was very tough opponents I had to face every round."

Ostapenko looked very confident throughout the week but she admitted to feeling the pressure as every match was really tough:

"I was fighting until the very last point, I even was down a match point against Petra [Kvitova]. Every match was very tough, and I was fighting, that was the main thing I was doing, because I had honestly no other choice. But I’m really happy with the way I was playing all week, and I think this way I can gain more confidence."

All in all, Ostapenko was glad to be able to win because she wanted the trophy badly:

"I really wanted to win because I love to play in the final, but I hate to lose in the final, so I really wanted to get that title. I think my mentality was good today and I was playing well."