Samantha Stosur dismisses Dominika Cibulkova to enter quarters – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
Australian number one, Samantha Stosur, trashed the 12th seed, Dominika Cibulkova, in straight sets at the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012 on Wednesday. She notched up a 6-4, 7-5 victory against the Slovakian beauty to charge into the final eight
at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event held in Tokyo, Japan.
Seeded eighth in this event, Stosur showed exceptional skills to outfox Cibulkova for second time this season. After earning this success in one hour and 35 minutes, the Aussie improved to a 3-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series against the Slovakian number
one.
The 28-year-old made a powerful entry at the Ariake Coliseum. She cashed in the lone break chances in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. Stosur then smoothly plucked her remaining serves after blocking both breakpoints she faced and eventually sealed
the opener by winning six games to four.
Ranked ninth in the WTA Premier Rankings, Stosur maintained her intensity in the following set. She broke the Slovak’s serve again in the third game and took a 2-1 lead. Regardless of levelling the scores in the very next game, the Aussie held her composure
and bagged her remaining serves. She got the breakthrough in the 11th game and clinched the set with a 7-5 score line.
Stosur dominated throughout this epic encounter. She fired nine aces and capitalised fully on nine double faults the Slovak spilled. The Aussie also impressively manifested a better first serve share of 64 per cent as opposed to her rival’s 44 per cent and
magnificently marked 34 out of 42 points on it.
Stosur will face off the conqueror of the match between second seeded Maria Sharapova and the Czech star, Lucie Safarova.
The Italian number one, Sara Errani, will join Stosur in the following round. She bounced back to outsmart the ninth seed, Marion Bartoli from France, in a three-set mouth-watering match to progress.
The sixth seed was broken five times but she cashed in half of the 16 break chances to formulate a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 success. She took full advantage of 12 double faults the French star coughed and dominated throughout the battle.
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