Dominika Cibulkova found her rhythm for the US Open (Part Two) – Tennis Special
Dominika Cibulkova lifted her game on dirt despite showing a dismal performance in the hard court season this circuit. She cruised into the final showdown at the Barcelona Ladies Open, a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International
event held on the clay courts in Spain. In addition to this, the Slovak secured final eight berths in many tournaments on all surfaces.
The Slovakian tennis star devastated France’s Iryna Bremond with a bagel in her opening round match at the Barcelona Tennis Olimpic. She rallied past her rivals, Klara Zakopalova and Yuliya Beygelzimer, in three sets before seeking
her rhythm again in the semis. Cibulkova slew the Romanian star, Sorana Cirstea, with double breadsticks but was underplayed by Italy’s Sara Errani in straight sets in the final round.
Cibulkova swayed from her track and crashed out from the opening rounds at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (lost to Uzbekistani lucky loser Akgul Amanmuradova) and the Mutua Madrid Open (lost to Roberta Vinci). However, she changed
her focus and never looked back. The Slovak cruised into the final eight at the following three clay court tournaments: Internazionali BNL D’Italia in Rome, Brussels Open in Belgium and the French Open.
At the Roland Garros, she also registered her major upset victory as she stunned top seeded Victoria Azarenka in straight sets in the pre-quarters. She exited to the reigning US Open titlist, Samantha Stosur, in the following round
but climbed to her career best ranking at world number 12.
She carried her momentum in the grass court season and secured another quarter-final berth at the UNICEF Open in s-Hertogenbosch (lost to eighth seed Nadia Petrova). Cibulkova faced a setback at the Wimbledon Championships after
crashing out to Zakopalova in the opening round but reached another final eight at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, a US Open build-up tournament held on the hard courts in Stanford.
The Slovak entered as second seed at the Mercury Insurance Open the following week and unveiled her true form. She jolted down Petrova in semis before crippling the top seed, Marion Bartoli, with a breadstick in the title-round.
The ecstatic Slovak stated in a courtside interview after lifting the crystalware:
"I have to say, this was the first WTA final where I played really well. In the first set everything was going my way. My forehand was working today 100%, and also my serves and returns. So everything was just fine. In the second
set I was up 1-0 and 40-0 on her serve, and I got a little bit nervous. She's a great player… went up 4-1, but I realized I was leading in a few of those games, so I knew I could turn it around again. I'm really happy I didn't give up and turned the second
set around."
After stealing the show, Cibulkova became the leading player at the Emirates Airline US Open series and gained a lot of confidence for the major hard court event taking place in Queens, New York City. She also climbed to 13th
spot in the WTA Premier Rankings and recorded her 14th victory over a Top 10 player after stunning Bartoli.
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