Polona Hercog upsets Dominika Cibulkova in quarterfinal – Hansol Korea Open 2011
Fifth seeded Polona Hercog got rid of fourth seeded wildcard entrant Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinal of the Hansol Korea Open 2011. After battling for one hour and twenty four minutes on outdoor hard courts, the fifth seeded
Slovenian (Hercog) won in straight sets of 6-3, 6-1.
The players had met this year prior to this event at the Wimbledon Championships. The two had duelled on grass courts of Wimbledon until finally Cibulkova had defeated Hercog in straight sets of 6-1, 6-2. This event was an opportunity
for Hercog to avenge her loss and equalize the head-to-head score and surprisingly she did!
Subsequently, after winning the pitch Cibulkova slipped in the first game as she was broken by her old-fangled rival but in the second game she broke back Hercog to even the score at 1-1. During the following two games the players
again broke each other back-to-back to round off the score at 2-2. They again tied the score at 3-3 by winning on alternate serves in the next two games.
During the last three games, Hercog got a mini break when she broke her adversary in the seventh game and then went on to holding her serve in the eighth game. By the end of the eighth game, Hercog was aiming to break her opponent
for the last time to clog an easy set. As Cibulkova served to stay in the set, her serve hit the net and she double faulted during her second serve and gave away a 6-3 victory of the opening set to Hercog.
Initiating the second set was Hercog this time, and for the first three games the player successfully kept on winning during their respective serves but in the fourth game Hercog was quick to break Cibulkova and take a mini break.
By the end of the fifth game the gap had further increased and Hercog was now just two games away from victory. As Cibulkova served for the sixth game, she again double faulted and gave her adversary the competitive edge she was
looking for.
Hercog served for the match in the seventh game and hit a marvellous forehand crosscourt shot and then another down the line to bag a comprehensive breadstick victory.
After all was said and done, Hercog was able to secure a place in the semi final of the event where she will be facing the Kazakh Galina Voskoboeva.
Tags: