Dominika Cibulkova defeats Klara Zakopalova to reach the quarter-finals – Barcelona Ladies Open 2012
World number 17, Dominika Cibulkova, escaped an upset in the second round of the Barcelona Ladies Open at the hands of the 48th ranked Czech, Klara Zakopalova. She lost the opening set but saved the match with a successive
sets win to march into the quarter-finals of the tournament. Final scores were 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
The match lasted for two hours and 31 minutes and in the favour of the deserving winner who has been the most improved player this year and inching one step closer to her career high ranking of world number twelve.
Both players traded a couple of breakpoint at the start before they settled into the atmosphere. Cibulkova was the one who held her serve for the first time and consolidated her position with another breakpoint in the following
game. However, she squandered the lead in the seventh game and the scores were levelled again at 4-4.
The pressure games were approaching. The Slovak tennis ace was the one who was serving the 11th game of the set; unfortunately, she wasted two easy points by striking the ball straight at the throat of the net. She lost
the game and wasn’t able to break serve in the following clash to keep the set alive.
However, the first set triumph didn’t lower her morale. Both players registered easy serve holds before swapping breakpoints in the first four games of the second set. Cibulkova took charge once again and but lost the advantage
in the seventh game and scores were tied at 4-4. However, this time she didn’t stop her onslaught and continued to hammer her opponent, winning another breakpoint in the last game of the set.
Zakopalova started the third set in emphatic fashion; broke her opponent’s serve twice and took a lead of 3-1. However, she was broken in the eighth game that levelled the scores at 4-4. It seemed like that this match will go down
the wire but the third seed Slovak bagged eight out of last ten points played to book a spot in the last eight of the tournament.
On her triumph, she stated, “I've had trouble winning those close matches this year, and I was down 4-2 in the third set today, so I'm really glad I made it. I've been training on clay a week before the tournament and I'm feeling
in good shape. I can still be much, much better, but I'm happy to be in the quarterfinals now, and I want to play a few more matches and see where I am with my form."
She plays Yuliya Beygelzimer of the Ukraine in the next round.
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