Dominika Cibulkova rallies past Ekaterina Makarova to round two – Kremlin Cup 2012
World number 14, Dominika Cibulkova, cleared the opening round hurdle at the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday after she bounced back a set down to dispatch the 20th ranked Russian, Ekaterina Makarova, in Moscow. She lost the opening set 2-6 but registered impressive score line of 6-4, 6-2 in the following two phases to survive the first intricacy on the tour.
After completing the contest, Cibulkova confessed, “The surface is completely different from last year so it took me some time to get into my rhythm. It's much slower now and I think that's why I took some time to get my rhythm and had so many miss-hits in the first set.”
She added, “Gradually, I started hitting the ball better, moving better and feeling much more comfortable on the court, which meant I could be more aggressive and go for my shots.” Talking about her next rival, the Slovak said, “I've played her many times and the last time I lost to her at the Olympics. But I also beat her many times, including once in Moscow, and I hope I can do the same tomorrow.”
Makarova commenced the encounter with a breakthrough to her name. She held her serve to make it two-love at the start. Both players swapped breakpoints in the midst of the set that didn’t benefit the cause of the defending champion. The Russian broke serve again in the seventh game and rounded off the first set with a serve hold.
The second set witnessed a gruelling battle that featured three breakpoints. Makarova’s serve was broken in the second game but she fought back to break her rival’s serve in the midst of the set. However, she failed to hold the most critical game (10th) of the set and gifted the triumph to her rival.
The final set witnessed two successive breakthroughs for the Slovak at the start. She took a resounding lead f 4-0 that was followed by series of breakpoints until the end. It was a taxing warm-up for the fifth seed Slovak who will play Tsvetana Pironkova in the following round of the contest on Wednesday.
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