DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Jasmine Paolini earned the biggest victory of her career by defeating qualifier Anna Kalinskaya 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to win the Dubai Championships title Saturday.
The 26th-ranked Paolini fought back from a break down in both the second and third sets en route to her second career WTA singles title and first at the 1000 level.
Paolini, 28, avenged her loss to Kalinskaya from a month ago in the Australian Open fourth round, and Saturday’s victory assures her of a top-20 debut when the rankings are updated Monday.
Kalinskaya had come through qualifying and beat three top-10 players in a row — including No. 1 Iga Swiatek — to reach the final.
The 40th-ranked Kalinskaya, the first qualifier to reach the Dubai final, had beaten No. 9 Jelena Ostapenko, then No. 3 Coco Gauff, then Swiatek. It was Swiatek’s first straight-sets loss in almost a year.
