Karolina Pliskova won her first WTA Tour title in more than four years on Sunday in Romania, where she beat home favorite Ana Bogdan, 6-4, 6-3, to cap a trophy run in which she won all 10 sets she played.
The Czech former world No. 1 can take the racquet out of her opponent's hands when her powerful game is clicking—like it was at the 2016 US Open, when she beat both Williams sisters en route to her first Grand Slam final. Pliskova also reached the Wimbledon and Montreal finals in 2021, but until last week had not advanced to another title match.
At the WTA 250 in Cluj-Napoca, the 31-year-old made the most of her opportunity with a dominant performance in the championship round. Pliskova won nearly 80% of her service points against the eighth-seeded Bogdan and did not face a break point in the second set.
"I feel amazing because I didn’t win a title since a couple years, so of course it feels great, especially here with the support which I have all week," Pliskova said after claiming her 17th tour-level trophy. Her 16th came in Brisbane in January 2020, prior to the pandemic.
"Today was difficult, but the atmosphere was amazing," she added. "At the moment I’m just really happy, so I want to enjoy it."
Pliskova has reached a total of five US Open quarterfinals, most recently in 2022, making the New York event her most successful major. But despite being inside the Top 20 this time last season, she entered last week as the world No. 78. Her drought-breaking title lifted her 19 places to No. 59.
Also victorious in Romania was the new-look American doubles duo of Caty McNally and Asia Muhammad. The first-time pairing defeated Harriet Dart and Tereza Mihalikova, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Cluj-Napoca crown, McNally's eighth WTA title and Muhammad's ninth.
Elsewhere on the WTA Tour, Elena Rybakina won her second title of the season in Abu Dhabi, where she beat world No. 14 Daria Kasatkina, 6-1, 6-4, in Sunday's final at the WTA 500.
There were three ATP 250 events on the calendar last week, with Tommy Paul taking the singles title in Dallas, Ugo Humbert triumphing in Marseille and 21-year-old Italian qualifier Luciano Darderi claiming his first tour-level trophy in Cordoba, Argentina.
Read more on USTA.com: Paul tops Giron in all-American Dallas final
