Dubai: Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland won her eighth career WTA title on Saturday, defeating Julia Goerges of Germany 7-5, 6-4 in the Dubai Tennis Championships final.
Radwanska will rise one place to a career-best No. 5 when the world rankings are updated on Monday.
The fifth-seeded Radwanska led in both sets but it took her almost two hours to overcome the unseeded Goerges, who ousted defending champion Caroline Wozniacki the day before.
The German rallied on her powerful forehand, but Radwanska patiently remained on the baseline to watch Goerges' unsuccessful forays to the net, rushed shots and long and wide returns.
Radwanska was close to victory in the second set with a 4-1 lead but her German opponent won three more games before Radwanska wrapped up her second win over Goerges in a month.
"Her forehand — it's a very big weapon," Radwanska said. "It's just going so fast and sometimes, you know, I couldn't even like move the right way and the ball was already behind me."
Goerges was hoping to make up for the loss to Radwanska in the fourth round of last month's Australian Open. "I'm not disappointed because it (the tournament) was a big step in the right direction for me," Goerges said. "She's a top five player ... I don't think that I did so many things wrong."
Radwanska improved her record to 15-3 on the year, all three losses to only top-ranked Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka pulled out of Dubai due to an ankle injury.
Radwanska said she was pleased with her climb in the rankings but there was a long way to the top spot.
"Well, you know, yeah, I'm 5, but it's still far from being No. 1," Radwanska said. "Looks pretty close, but it's still far."
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