Simona Halep continued her fine start to 2015 by winning the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.

The Romanian world number four was simply too strong for Karolina Pliskova in Dubai as she claimed the title with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory in one hour and 46 minutes.

In doing so, she followed up her success at the Shenzhen Open last month, to bring up her 10th career singles crown.

Halep had been forced to battle back from a set down to come through her semi-final showdown with Caroline Wozniacki on Friday and she again survived a scare in the showpiece.

Pliskova had her chances in the first set, forcing two break points on the Halep serve, but she could not convert.

The Romanian, meanwhile, dug deep to take the only opportunity of her own as she edged the opener 6-4.

The second set saw the pair trade breaks at regular intervals, but when Pliskova could not haul herself back from 15-40 down in the ninth game, Halep looked to have seized a crucial advantage.

She was afforded the chance to serve out for the match and then rallied from 0-30 down to bring up match point, but Pliskova refused to roll over and saved with a break back.

The Czech was soon staring down the barrel of defeat once more, but saved another match point and broke Halep's serve for a fourth time to force a tie-break.

The Romanian recovered from her visible frustration at failing to take another opportunity, however, to win a tense shootout 7-4 and take the title.

"It’s very tough to put into words how I feel," said Halep.

"I knew she had a big serve and that is all I wanted to practice to prepare for this match.

"I stayed very focused for every point and did everything to win today."