Caroline Wozniacki strains past Dominika Cibulkova in second round – Apia International Sydney 2012
Reigning world number one, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, had to labour a bit harder before she finally took down the 18th ranked Slovakian, Dominika Cibulkova, in the second round clash of the Apia International Sydney
on Tuesday. The top seed Dane battle out for two hours and twenty two minutes to conclude the three-setter at 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, marching into the quarter-final draw of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) event.
It was an evenly poised contest being played on the outdoor hard courts of the NSW Tennis Centre in Sydney, Australia. The top seed Wozniacki received a bye to have a direct access to the second round of the tournament and worked
through Cibulkova to earn her first victory of the 2012 WTA season. The Dane finally avenged her defeat she suffered at the hands of Cibulkova at Wimbledon last year and stretched her head-to-head lead to 7-3 against the 22-year-old Slovak competitor.
High quality tennis action was seen right from the beginning of the contest and a total of five serve breaks were traded between the two rivals. The opener was heading for a tie-breaker round when Wozniacki nailed a crucial break
point in the 12th game to seal the set 7-5 in her favour.
Tide turned in the following set when Cibulkova came out firing at her top seed opponent, breaking her serve twice right up to rocket away to 4-0 in no time. Wozniacki was flabbergasted with the abrupt change of momentum in the
game and failed to recover from her trail, eventually submitting the set to the unseeded opponent at 2-6.
With the matchup levelled at one-all, both competitors went into the final set with all their guns blazing. Intense tennis play was seen, with a number of assertive winners being exchanged between the two ladies. Cibulkova cracked
in two break points early to race away to 4-0 and was threatening a surprise result but a tremendous recovery from the world number one saved the day for her. Wozniacki stung three serve breaks in a row to stun her opponent, sealing victory at 6-4 to get through
to the quarter-final draw of the Apia International Sydney.
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