Dominika Cibulkova breezes past Klara Zakopalova into quaterfinal – Kremlin Cup 2011
Eighth seeded Dominika Cibulkova overpowered Klara Zakopalova in the second round of the Kremlin Cup 2011. The two rivals took up swords on the hard courts of the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. It took simply one hour and thirty
one minutes for the eighth seeded Slovak to get rid of the Czech underdog Klara Zakopalova in straight sets of 7-6(5), 6-2 on Thursday the 20th of October 2011.
Inaugurating the first round of the match was Zakopalova; she comfortably managed to bag the first game and placed herself on the scoreboard at 1-0. Following in her footsteps was the eighth seeded Slovak, who too held her serve
and placed herself beside her adversary at 1-1 on the scoreboard. However, in the third game Zakopalova’s forehand shot went wayward and she erred endorsing a game to her opponent. On the other hand, Cibulkova not only capitalized on the break but also held
her serve to take a mini lead of 3-1 by the end of the fourth game.
In a turn of events, Zakopalova held serve in the fifth game and then in the sixth broke her adversary to close the deficit at 3-3 on the scoreboard. Zakopalova once more held serve and took a mini lead of 4-3. In the following
two games the players broke each other one after the other and the score was brought to a tie at the end of the tenth game as Cibulkova quickly bagged her service game. Eventually the set was pushed into a tiebreaker as both the players once more held serve.
The head-to-head run between the two carried well into the tiebreaker and the score progressed on even terms, balancing out first at 1-1 and then 2-2. With a succession of few breaks and hold of serves, the players matched an eye
for an eye and the score once more tied at 4-4 and then 5-5. However, Cibulkova wanted to cut the goose chase and took a notch higher in performance. From there onwards she broke her adversary to reel off straight to points and clinched the tiebreaker with
a 7-5 victory of the opening set.
The second set of the match was initiated by the eighth seeded Slovak and the two players traded breaks to tie the score at 1-1 on the scoreboard. In the third game Zakopalova battled a few deuces and successfully warded off Cibulkova
as she won her service game. She then took a lead by holding her serve in the fourth game.
During the fifth and the sixth games the players broke each other back to back and the score had progressed to 4-2 by the end of the sixth game with Cibulkova leading the set. In the last two games Cibulkova not only held her serve
but also broke her adversary to seal her victory of the set and the match.
Next up for the eighth seeded Slovak is top seed Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinal of the event.
Tags: