Maria Sharapova vs. Dominika Cibulkova – Quarterfinal Preview: Wimbledon Championships 2011
Three times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova is all set to face Slovakian tennis pro Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinal of 2011 Wimbledon Tennis Championships in United Kingdom.
Seven year ago, Sharapova achieved a remarkable feat when she floored Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final to lift her first Grand Slam trophy at the age of 17. But following her triumph, the 24-year-old could not live up to
the expectations and won only two more Major titles, at 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. Troubled with injuries throughout her career, Sharapova made a strong return to the Women’s Tennis Association tour this season as she reached world number six in
the WTA rankings.
Sharapova is getting better with every passing round. Starting the season strongly with a quarterfinal appearance in New Zealand, the Russian showed amazing mental toughness to make it to the fourth round of year’s first Grand
Slam tournament; Australian Open. She also had a successful clay court season; reaching the semi-final of 2011 Roland Garros where she fell to the eventual champion Li Na.
Participating in her first green surface competition of the year, Sharapova has looked in inspirational form. She made quick work of Chinese Shuai Peng 6-4, 6-2 in the fourth round to book her place in the last eight at the prestigious
championships. With world number one Caroline Wozniacki and Williams Sisters out of the tournament, she will certainly fancy her chances to claim her second Wimbledon title. However, she will have to be consistent with her ground strokes and serves to keep
her wonderful run going.
"I'm in the quarters here for the first time since 2006, so that's definitely a step forward but I think I want to be even better, keep improving," she said. "I feel like I can."
Her opponent Dominika Cibulkova is also a very talented player. Her current ranking of world number 24 does not justify her calibre and abilities as she has shown in the past that she can take down even the best of the WTA players.
The Slovakian stunned world number one Caroline Wozniacki in a three sets thriller to reach the last eight. Earlier she has ousted the inform Julia Georges in the third round play.
Still in pursuit of her first ever WTA title, Cibulkova has improved her game play significantly over the year. The two women have met each other four times on the tour prior to this meeting with a 2-2 head to head record. Cibulkova
has enjoyed more success in recent times defeating the Russian in straight sets in pair’s last two meetings. However, the quarterfinal clash is going to be their first grass court meeting ever and Sharapova, who is more experienced on this surface, is expected
to pull off a victory in three tight sets.
Tags: