Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic reacts during her women's singles tennis final match against Simona Halep of Romania at the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships February 21, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The Czech - currently ranked a career-high 18th in the world - netted a simple return and the Romanian held for 2-2.

The tattooed Pliskova rarely left the baseline against Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in her semi-final, but ventured forward more against Halep, aware she must be braver against higher calibre foe.

"Even if I won the second set, I don't think I would have won the whole match," Pliskova, who is expected to rise to 12th in the rankings when the new list is issued on Monday, told reporters.

"She's running really well and so it's hard to kill the ball. She's great at returning. Today, it was more about my mistakes because she wasn't doing any."