2011 Mutua Madrid Open: Maria Sharapova vs Dominika Cibulkova – Preview
Former world number one Maria Sharapova of Russia will take on Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia on Wednesday in the third round match at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open in Spain.
Ranked 9th in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Sharapova has been in decent form since the start of this season. She started the year with a quarterfinal appearance at Auckland. At the 2011 Australian Open she reached the fourth round where she fell to number 30 seed Andrea Petkovic. The Russian kept improving her game play with every tournament she participated in. A few weeks later she reached the semi-final of BNP Paribas Open and then stood runner-up at 2011 Sony Ericsson Open losing to Victoria Azarenka in the final.
Sharapova made a confident start at the red clay court Madrid Open as well. She came back from a set deficit against Dutch Arantxa Rus 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her opening match.
"Arantxa started off the match really well, really aggressive. I was the tentative one," Sharapova said. "Playing my first match on clay in a while and against a lefty, it was tough - I had the same situation last year and lost the match."
Three time Grand Slam champion, Sharapova will be hoping to maintain her good form at the WTA event. Following her consistent performances on the tour, Sharapova has returned to the WTA top 10 for the first time since 2009. However, she will have to up her game play even further if she wants to overcome other top seeded players at the WTA tournament.
Dominika Cibulkova’s best performance was recorded at the 2009 French Open where she reached the semi-final. Dinara Safina defeated her in a tight contest in the semi-final. She is a lot more matured tennis player now and having a fabulous time on the tour since this season has started. The Slovakian reached the quarterfinal at Brisbane and Sydney in the beginning of the year. She also made it to the third round of the Australian Open. Ranked 28th in the world, Cibulkova made it to the fourth round of 2011 BNP Paribas Open a couple a weeks ago.
Sharapova is leading the head-to-head series against Cibulkova 2-1. However, in their previous meeting at 2009 French Open, the Slovakian stunned Sharapova with an easy 6-0, 6-2 straight set victory. Cibulkova is an aggressive baseliner and posses a powerful backhand shot which she can use to down her opponent. Sharapova on the other hand has a superior serve which is considered to be one of the best in WTA world. Both players will try and exert pressure one another right from the start however considering Sharapova’s commanding form and experience, she is like to emerge victorious from the contest.
Tags: