DUBAI — Sara Errani defeated Barbora Strycova 6-0, 6-2 Saturday to win the Dubai Tennis Championships, three years after first reaching the final.
The Italian will rise back into the top 20 as a result of her comprehensive victory in 66 minutes, according to WTA calculations.
Strycova made a stand at the end, saving four match points over the last two games before drilling a forehand out to lose for the sixth time in seven meetings with Errani.
Errani, who won the first eight games, lost the 2013 final in Dubai to Petra Kvitova. She now owns nine career titles.
"I have no words," the first Italian woman to win the Dubai trophy said.
"I'm sorry for Barbora, it was not her day. I don't know how I got this far. But I'm very happy for myself and my team."
Strycova was gracious in defeat: "I tried everything, but it was so hard. I'm very happy to have played the final."
In the semifinals, Errani defeated 21st-ranked Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4 and Strycova beat 38th-ranked Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
to earn a chance at a second career
Paire topples Wawrinka
France’s Benoit Paire ousted top seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 Friday to join second seed Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals of the ATP Marseille Open.
Paire, seeded eighth, represents the last home hope in Marseille after Australian Kyrgios earlier whipped Richard Gasquet 6-0, 6-4.
The 22nd-ranked Frenchman will next play 12th-ranked Croat Cilic, who earlier got past Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-4.
Frenchman Gasquet was no match for the 41st-ranked Kyrgios, whose powerful serve helped him to a straightforward victory in under an hour. He will bid to reach his second ATP World Tour final against Czech Berdych, having reached his maiden final last year in Estoril where he finished runner-up to Gasquet.
Berdych completed the semifinal line-up for Saturday by easing past sixth-seeded Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal makes semifinals
Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rio Open Friday without hitting a shot.
The top seed moved on after his quarterfinal opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine withdrew before the clay-court match with a shoulder injury.
Tournament organizers said Dolgopolov hurt his shoulder in a doubles match Thursday.
Nadal’s semifinal opponent will be Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who defeated Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-4, 7-6 (4). The match was delayed for 2-1/2 hours with Delbonis leading 4-2 in the second set.
No. 5 Dominic Thiem upset No. 2 David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2. The 22-year-old Austrian won the Buenos Aires title last week — beating Nadal in the semifinals — and is the youngest player in the ATP’s top 20 rankings.
Thiem will face Guido Pella of Argentina in the semis. He defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, but Thiem will be a strong favorite to reach the final.
On the women’s side of the ATP-WTA event, Petra Martic of Croatia defeated No. 6 Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 to reach the semifinals. In another upset, Sorana Cirstea of Romania defeated No. 3 Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-2 to eliminate the last seeded player from the tournament.
Del Potro reaches Delray semis
Injury-nagged 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro advanced to the ATP Delray Beach Open semi-finals on Friday by defeating French fifth seed Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-3.
In his comeback event after sitting out for nearly a year, the 27-year-old Argentine wildcard entrant earned a Saturday berth against 61st-ranked Sam Querrey, who rallied to dispatch fellow American Tim Smyczek 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov will face American Rajeev Ram in the other semifinal. Ram, ranked 89th, won their only prior meeting at Atlanta in 2011.
World No. 28 Dimitrov downed French eighth seed Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-5, firing seven aces in windy conditions to dispatch the 2015 Delray semi-finalist in 79 minutes.
Ram rallied to beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Ram seeks a third career ATP crown after winning on Newport grass in 2009 and last year. — Agencies
