Doha (AFP) – The Czech Karolina Muchova (19th in the world) won her first WTA 1000 this Saturday in Doha, the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit after the Grand Slam, by surprising the Canadian Victoria Mboko (13th) 6-4, 7-5.

First modification: 02/14/2026 - 17:59 Last modification: 02/14/2026 - 18:40

The 29-year-old right-hander - ten years older than her rival in the final - had only won one title throughout her career, in 2019 at the WTA 250 in Seoul.

Finalist at Roland Garros in 2023, Muchova had also fallen short of the title at the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati in 2023 and Beijing in 2024.

"It's been a while since I've won a tournament, it's nice to get this feeling back," the Czech smiled before receiving the trophy from FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Thanks to her victory this Saturday against Mboko, the former world No. 8 will rise to eleventh position in the WTA ranking, just behind Mboko, who will join the world top-10 for the first time at 19 years old.

Made known with her unexpected title at the WTA 1000 in Montreal in 2025, the Canadian lost her second final in two months, after her defeat in January at the WTA 500 in Adelaide against the Russian Mirra Andreeva (7th).

"It's not the result I wanted, but I see a lot of positive things to stay with," consoled Mboko, who in this tournament beat two top-10 tennis players for the first time in her career during the same tournament (No. 7 Andreeva and No. 3 Elena Rybakina).

© 2026 AFP

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