Elina Svitolina breaks into top 10 with win over Caroline Wozniacki at Dubai final

Svitolina's victory in a match which began two hours late due to weather marked the biggest win of her career.
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine returns the ball to Caroline Wozniacki in the final match of the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai. | AP
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine returns the ball to Caroline Wozniacki in the final match of the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai. | AP

DUBAI: Elina Svitolina beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 to win a rain-delayed final at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday which sent her into the top 10.

The Ukrainian cracked the elite on tenth for the first time as she defeated 2011 champion Wozniacki, a former world number one seven years ago.

Svitolina's victory in a match which began two hours late due to weather marked the biggest win of her career.

The Ukrainian, who won the Taipei title this season, spent 54 minutes in claiming the first set in a battle of long points, with Wozniacki saving two set points -- one with a second-serve ace -- before losing from a forehand long.

Elina Svitolina holds the Dubai Tennis Championships trophy. | AP
Elina Svitolina holds the Dubai Tennis Championships trophy. | AP

Svitolina took a 3-2 lead in the second set on a break, then reached 5-2 before drilling a forehand winner down the line for victory after less than 90 minutes.

Wozniacki was playing her second final in as many weeks after finishing runner-up in Doha to Karolina Pliskova.

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