"It's a huge privilege" - Barbora Krejcikova on joining Steffi Graf, Williams sisters and Aryna Sabalenka in unique list following her Dubai triumph

Barbora Krejcikova joined a distinguished list of players following her victory over Iga Swiatek in the final of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships.

Krejcikova won her maiden WTA 1000 title by beating the World No. 1 6-4, 6-2 in the title clash on Saturday. It was her second successive win over Swiatek, having previously beaten her in the final of the AGEL Open in Ostrava last season.

Before defeating the World No. 1, Barbora Krejcikova defeated World No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the semifinals and World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.

The Czech thus became only the fifth woman in the last 40 years to defeat the top three ranked players in the world in a singles tournament. Others who have attained this distinction are: Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Aryna Sabalenka.

Graf beat Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and then-World No. 1 Martina Hingis en route to her final Grand Slam title at the 1999 French Open.

Serena Williams won the 2002 Miami Open by beating Martina Hingis, her sister Venus Williams and then-World No. 1 Jennifer Capriati. Venus Williams, on the other hand, beat sister Serena Williams. Dinara Safina and then-World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic en route to her triumph at the 2008 WTA Finals.

Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, defeated Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula and World No.1 Iga Swiatek in last year's WTA Finals, where she reached the final before losing to Caroline Garcia.

When asked how it felt to be a part of such a distinguished group in her post-match press conference, Krejcikova responded that it was a "privilege" for her to be on the list and that it has given her a lot of confidence for the rest of the year.

"It's a huge privilege. It's a huge privilege. Yeah, I mean, I'm not really following that much, these things. I try to focus on tennis and on my performance. But definitely, I mean, it's a big achievement and I think it's going to give me a lot of confidence that I can play with the best ones," Krejcikova said.

"I'm really happy with the way how I played"- Barbora Krejcikova after winning the Dubai Tennis Championships

Barbora Krejcikova celebrates her win over Iga Swiatek

Speaking at her post-match press conference, Barbora Krejcikova said that she felt "great" after winning her maiden WTA 1000 title. The Czech further stated that she showed her best tennis this week and was very happy overall with how she played.

"Well, I feel great. I think I show my best tennis this week. I'm really happy with the way how I played, how I was able to, I mean, play my tennis but also hold the nerves, just enjoy everything that was happening during this week on the court. Yeah, I mean, it was a big match," Krejcikova said.

The Dubai Tennis Championships is Krejcikova's sixth WTA singles title and the triumph will see her climb 14 spots to 16th in the WTA rankings next week.