Dominika Cibulkova tires down Kimiko Date-Krumm in the 1st round – Bank of the West Classic 2011
Kicking off on the 25th of July 2011 was the first round of the Bank of the West Classic tournament 2011. Meeting for the first time the Slovakian, Dominika Cibulkova and the Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm battled on the
outdoor hard court at the Taube Family Tennis Center, Stanford University, California. The Slovakian (Dominika) won the match 6-2, 7-6(7).
In the first set of the match neither of the players smashed an ace and both had struck two double faults (Dominika hit twice on the net while Kim had two line faults). Serving first Dominika had won seventy three percent of her
first serve. However, Dominika gained an edge because of her return serve which re-coiled everything that came its way.
The Slovakian’s defence was very strong and she broke her opponent three times on her own serve. Mean while her opponent was only able to save one out of the four break points and was able win fifty percent of break points faced.
Kimiko had a very poor return serve and only attained thirty six percent of her total return points of the set. When all was said and done, Dominika was a better player and had won almost twice as more points than her opponents in the total set points.
During the second set the crowd expected the 40-year-old Kimiko to jump right back into the game and she did! This time she performed relatively better than the first. She was not able to strike an ace although she had improved
on her accuracy, striking only one line fault. Mean while Dominika had lost her exactitude on her accuracy and struck three double faults that hit the net, however she aced twice.
Dominika was able to hit fifty percent of the first serve on target and won forty eight percent of her total return points. Due to an average defence she allowed two break point opportunities to her opponent and was able to convert
another two break point chances to her advantage. Kimiko pulled up her socks and gave a tough time to the 22-year-old Dominika and took the match to a tie-breaker. Just slipping for a moment and then regaining her control Dominika made her opponent run in
circles on the court. The 40-year-old Kimiko was out of breath and lost the tie-breaker. The crowd still cheered for Kimiko and appreciated her performance although she lost the set.
Both the players had performed to their utmost however, due to Dominika’s agility, stamina, defence and technique she won the match in straight two sets.
She will now be facing Christina McHale in the second round at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
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