Greta Arn wins the tiring battle against Dominika Cibulkova in second round – Australian Open 2012
One of the most enthralling battles of this year’s Australian Open was witnessed on Thursday, when the 92nd ranked Hungarian veteran, Greta Arn, took down world number 19, Dominika Cibulkova, in the second round draw.
The tiring two hours and 43-minute battle was finally settled in Arn’s favour at 6-2, 3-6, 10-8, letting her through to the third round of the Grand Slam Down Under.
It remained an evenly posed contest throughout, with both contestants throwing their best at each other to come out as the winner. Intense tennis action reached its prime when the final set was stretched to a total of 18 games
before Arn delivered the final blow to claim victory. A considerable crowd at the Court 6 witnessed the electrifying battle and cheered to every game won in the final set, which took 88 minutes to conclude.
17th seed Cibulkova was led down by her error-ridden game play, as she coughed 58 unforced errors in the entire matchup, including six double faults at the crucial moments of play. She was evenly matched by the Hungarian
opponent, who stung a total of eight break points en route to victory.
Arn suffered the first blow in the second game of the match, losing her serve to Cibulkova but retaliated immediately to snatch it back in the very next game. The world number 92 struck two more break points in the fifth and seventh
games to close out the opener in an assertive way at 6-2.
The Hungarian serve was broken in the second game of the following set but Arn couldn’t turn the tables on her opponent this time round. Cibulkova secured the second set at 6-3 to level the matchup at one-all.
The nail-biting final set witnessed a total of seven break point conversion from the two contestants. Both women were labouring extremely hard to get a hand on victory and the set was extended to 9-8, with Cibulkova serving to
save double match points. Arn sliced a perfectly disguised backhand drop shot and Cibulkova was found lingering way behind the baseline, failing to reach the ball in time and victory celebrations went on their way for the 32-year-old Hungarian veteran. She
will face the former world number one, Serena Williams, in her third round match later this week.
Tags: