Flavia Pennetta dismantles Dominika Cibulkova in third round – China Open 2011
Italian Flavia Pennetta secured a place in the quarterfinal by defeating Slovak Dominika Cibulkova by surviving a mid match fall during the third round of the China Open 2011. On Thursday the 6th of October the players
duelled on outdoor hard courts of the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China. After a heated encounter of one hour and fifty five minutes Italian Pennetta scored a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 against the world number 22 Cibulkova.
Cibulkova had settled on opening the initial round of the match, as she had just won the service pitch but she got off to a poor start as she had lost the first service game to Pennetta. On the contrary, Pennetta was happy to avail
an early break and by holding serve in the second, she took a mini lead of 2-0. She added one more game to the lead by breaking Cibulkova again in the third round.
In the fourth game the Italian brass scored another game by holding her service game and in doing so, she reeled off four games to love which was a good start for Pennetta as she had taken the edge over her opponent. Cibulkova
made an appalling return in the fifth game by holding her game for the first time and even though, she tried her level best to reduce the deficit, she was unable to. In the last two games Pennetta not only held serve but she benefitted from the last break
to take away the opening set with a breadstick victory.
By the second set, Cibulkova had pulled up her socks and was ready to take on her adversary. This time it was Pennetta who was broken in the initial game but she was quick to break back and levelled the scoreboard at 1-1. The
toe-to-toe run between the players carried well into the following six games and they kept the score tied at 4-4 by the end of the eighth game. In the last two games Cibulkova broke Pennetta and snatched the set away with a 6-4 victory.
Opening the decisive round of the match was Pennetta and in the first eight games the score had tied at 4-4, as both the players broke each other once, however, Pennetta was first to break in the fourth game, while, Cibulkova broke
her Italian rival in the seventh game. At this stage the match could’ve tilted either way but as Pennetta held serve in the ninth game by smashing a marvellous backhand winner down the line, she was now only a breakpoint away. Cibulkova was serving nervously
for the last game and as she struck a long crosscourt, she endorsed the game and the match to her old fangled rival.
Next up for Pennetta is the Dane Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinal of the China Open 2011.
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