Dominika Cibulkova, Miskai Doi sail into the second round – Wimbledon Championships 2011
Slovakian tennis star Dominika Cibulkova earned a hard fought 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 victory over Mirjana Lucic of Croatia on Wednesday to book her place in the second round of 2011 Wimbledon Championships in United Kingdom.
Making a shaky start to the match, Cibulkova committed a large number of unforced errors in the opening set. However, she raised the level of her game afterwards and came up with a special performance to bag the next two sets.
Seeded 24th at the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association tournament, Cibulkova started off very tentatively as number of her forehand and backhand shots landed outside the lines early on. Lucic was up for the challenge
and she grabbed opportunities with both hands. Hitting 13 winners in the set, the Croat established complete control over the contest.
Cibulkova, who looked down and out after the first set, regrouped herself in the second set to shift the balance of the match. Breaking the serve twice in the set, she earned a substantial lead. Holding on to her ninth serve game
successfully, she pocketed managed to even the set score.
Both player displayed some top quality tennis in the final set. After the contestants broke each other twice in the set, the match entered a very exciting phase. Breaking her rival for the third time in the set, the Slovakian took
a crucial 7-6 lead. She then converted the second match point on her next service game to ensure her place in the second round of the tournament.
Lucic wasted quite a few chances in the set and paid the price. Making 22 unforced errors in the decider, she let the opportunities slip away.
Miskai Doi of Japan also booked her second round berth with a marvellous 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory over American Mattek-Sands at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
After her compatriot Kimiko Date-Krumm lost a tight match against Venus Williams, Doi was there to keep Japanese hopes alive as she fought hard right till the last minute.
Doi broke the serve twice in the opening set to dent her opponent’s confidence levels. Adopting a very attacking approach, she smashed her wonderful forehand and backhand winners all over the court to clinch the opener 6-4.
Seeded 30th at the Championships, Matte-Sands bounced back brilliantly in the following set. Breaking the serve three times in the set, she managed to gain some sort of momentum in the match as she forced the match into
a decider.
However, Doi concentrated on her own game play and showed no signs of nerves in the final set either. Playing in a lovely drop shot, she sealed an emphatic victory in a match that lasted for more than two hours and fifteen minutes.
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