Dominika Cibulkova outplays Christina McHale in the opening clash – Brussels Open 2012
Current world number 16, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, had a thumping beginning to her Brussels open campaign on Monday when she overwhelmed the 35th ranked American contender, Christina McHale, in the opening round
battle. The fourth seed Slovak took one hour and 35 minutes to conclude the two-setter at 7-6(1), 6-1, marching into the round of 16 of the tournament in style.
Being a part of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International Tour clay swing, the contest was played on the outdoor courts of the Royal Primerose Tennis Club in Brussels, Belgium. The Slovakian tennis ace had defeated McHale
on her home soil in Stanford, USA, last year and her Monday’s victory gave her a 2-0 edge over the American in the head-to-head series.
20-year-old McHale posed some serious resistance in the early parts of the contest but suddenly lost all of her steam later on to fall in a terrible manner. McHale managed to drag Cibulkova in the tie-breaker round in set one but
couldn’t restrain her from clinching the opener. She was completely blown out in the following set and suffered a breadstick from the booming Slovak opponent, crashing out of the tournament in dismay.
Cibulkova had a below par serve precision of 47 per cent in the matchup and secured just 16 out of 28 first serve points en route to victory. On the other hand, McHale’s 65 per cent accurate first serve earned her 21 out of 41
points, yet the American finished on the losing side in the end. The vital difference between two talented contenders proved to be the number of serve breaks in the match. McHale could barely register two out of her six break opportunities while 23-year-old
Cibulkova came up with five out of seven cracking breaks of serve to root out her opponent. She Broke the American serve four times in the second set and finished off the match with an assertive score of 6-1.
Cibulkova has to wait for the opening round clash between Yanina Wickmayer and Ana Chakvetadze to settle before finding her next round opponent. Wickmayer and Chakvetadze will go one-on-one against each other on Tuesday.
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