Roberta Vinci bounces over at Dominika Cibulkova in round three – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Italian star, Roberta Vinci, made an epic comeback from a set down to overpower Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova with a bagel at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Monday. She nudged up a 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4 victory over the 16th seed to advance into the
pre-quarters at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event taking place in California.
The 21st seed stayed solid throughout the match and eventually sealed the deal in two hours and 39 minutes in their fourth outing. After earning this surprising success, Vinci not only levelled the head-to-head series by 2-2 against the Slovak
but also reached the fourth round at this hard court tournament taking place in Indian Wells, United States.
Ranked 17th in the WTA rankings, Cibulkova made a shaky start at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and suffered the first blow in the opening game. Apart from recovering in the very next game, she lost her serve once more in the third game and went
1-3 down. However, the Slovak snatched her break back in the eighth game and after exchanging another serve break, she took the set to a tie-breaker. Cibulkova cruised to a 4-1 lead and then held her composure to clinch the opener with a 7-6(5) score line.
The frustrated Italian made a stunning reply in the second set. She went on a six-game rampage and pulled out the equaliser with a bagel. Vinci fended off all three breakpoints she faced and cashed in half of the six break opportunities to earn the glory.
Vinci lost her track again in the final set and gifted away her serve in the third game. Despite recovering in the follow-up game, she lost her serve for a second time and subsequently went 2-4 down. However, the Italian found her rhythm after that and blasted
groundstrokes to wipe out the last four games in a row, ultimately sealing the decider with a 6-4 win.
Next challenge for Vinci is the world number two, Maria Sharapova, who swept past Simona Halep in straight sets to set-up this date. She displayed flawless performance in her match to dump the Romanian number one with a 6-3, 6-4 score line.
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