Young star Victoria Mboko was beaten 6-4 7-5 by Karolina Muchova in the Qatar Open final.
The victory is a first WTA 1000 title and her first since 2019, ending a seven-year drought for the 14th seed and former French Open finalist.
Czech Muchova came through with the victory in one hour and 34 minutes in Doha as she picked up the second title of her career.
It was a sweet moment for Muchova since she has struggled with multiple injuries, most notably being sidelined for 10 months following a wrist injury she suffered in 2023.
"It's been a while since I won a tournament," Muchova said. "So it's just nice to get that feeling again. To be reminded of that victory feeling here in Doha, it's incredible."
Muchova has picked up a remarkable 57 wins in WTA 1000 events before finally picking up a WTA 1000 title. Only three players have earned more WTA 1000 match wins before picking up a title.
It was close between the pair for the first six games before Muchova then took control and broke to move 4-3 ahead before serving out the first set 6-4.
She was then full of confidence in the second set and held all three break points but Mboko was not going to give up without a fight as she went 4-2 in front.
However, Muchova then broke back and after moving 6-5 in front served for the title.
On the way to the final, Mboko stunned Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals and she blasted past Latvian Ostapenko in 74 minutes to reach her second WTA 1000 final, following on from her .
Meanwhile, Muchova had defeated Maria Sakkari 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the other semi-final.
This time last year, Mboko was ranked No 211 and on the way to collecting her fourth ITF title of 2025 at the Manchester W35.
She had played just one WTA main draw in her career, and had yet to win a match at that level.
"It was amazing. It's not the outcome I wanted but I think there's so many positives to take away," Mboko said.
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