Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay became the first ever player to win both the singles and doubles titles in the same edition of Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge as she pulled off an impressive double in Dubai Saturday to finish off her season on a high.

Buyukakcay, who entered the week at the Habtoor Grand Resort ranked No158 in the world and was seeded No6, captured her biggest title to date by triumphing at the $75,000 ITF event in Dubai and she did it in tremendous fashion, toppling the No1 and No2 seeds en route to lifting the trophy.

After taking out defending champion and top seed Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarter-finals, Buyukakcay went on to reach the final, where she beat the second-seeded Klara Koukalova 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 Saturday.

She then returned to the court partnering Greece’s Maria Sakkari to defeat Ipek Soylu and Elise Mertens in the doubles final.  

“It’s amazing to finish my season like this,” Buyukakcay, 26, told Sport360. “This is my first 75K title ever. Of course I was so motivated when I came here because it’s a good tournament and I had played it last year.

“I really enjoy Dubai when I come so I said to myself ‘I want to do my best’. Every day was tough. But from second round I started playing my best tennis. And it’s really great to finish this year on a high.”

Buyukakcay had started her 2015 season well, qualifying to the main draw in Shenzhen and even winning a round at the Premier WTA event in Dubai, which saw her reach a career-high ranking of 108.

She then slipped in the rankings but has managed to grab two ITF titles in the final three months of the season – a $25K in Georgia and now a $75K in Dubai.

“My year was really up and down. I started well and had some of my best wins but then I had some tough times,” she said.

“I played more WTA events and I lost many matches but I believe it was a learning. After those new experiences, I started winning again starting September and now to finish like this is perfect.”

Source: sport360.com