Dominika Cibulkova battles past Karin Knapp to reach round three – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Slovakian number one, Dominika Cibulkova, needed three sets to outrun the local contender, Karin Knapp, at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Wednesday. She summed up a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory against the world number 112 to progress at this WTA Premier
Five event taking place in Rome, Italy.
The 14th seed lost her track in the second set but made a spectacular reply in the decider. After earning the limelight in two hours and 22 minutes, Cibulkova not only edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the 24-year-old but also advanced
at this red clay court tournament.
Cibulkova high-spiritedly entered Foro Italico and drew the first blood in the sixth game to jump to a 4-2 lead. In spite of losing her edge in the very next game, the Slovak cashed in another break chance and pocketed the opener by winning six games to
three.
The local star, who stunned her compatriot Roberta Vinci in the opening round, re-structured in the follow-up set. She lost her serve in the opening game but quickly recovered in the proceeding game. Later Knapp exchanged a serve break after before clinching
the equaliser with a 6-4 score line.
Ranked 17th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Cibulkova unleashed her skills again in the final set and wiped out the opening three games in a row. Apart from losing her serve in the fourth game, the Slovak reeled off the last three games, subsequently
baking a breadstick.
Summing up the Slovak’s performance, the 23-year-old spilled more double faults and produced a lower first serve share of 54 per cent as compared to her opponent’s 68 per cent. However, she acceptably availed 31 out of 55 points on it and sealed the deal
by bagging 95 points.
Next challenge for Cibulkova was the world number one, Victoria Azarenka. However, the top Belarusian was forced to pull out from the tournament due to a shoulder injury she sustained after crushing Shahar Peer with a breadstick. As a result, the Slovak
secured a spot in the quarter-finals.
The 13th seed, Ana Ivanovic, also progressed at this event. She crippled the Spanish qualifier, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, with a 6-2, 6-1 success in almost an hour.
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