Sloane Stephens stuns Dominika Cibulkova in round one – Brisbane International 2013
World number 38, Sloane Stephens, stunned the 15th ranked Slovak, Dominika Cibulkova, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to clear the opening round of the Brisbane International. She registered the victory in a fraction over
an hour and 27 minutes at the Pat Rafter Arena on Monday.
Cibulkova was expected to begin the new season on a high-note after a topsy turvy play in 2012. However, she couldn’t discover any sort of rhythm in her form at Brisbane and fell to an early onslaught from the 19-year-old American
who made a strong statement with this victory.
The 23-year-old Slovak just managed to win a single point on her first serve game and went down to a trail of 3-0 courtesy to another shocking breakpoint for her rival. Stephens was under the cosh but squeeze a serve hold after
a good hard fought fight back to protect a double break lead. The following games of the set were easily bagged by the respective serve players that ended the opening phase of the match in the favour of the teenager.
Cibulkova was expected to bounce back into the contest after a dismal start but the terrible show continued in the second set as well. She dropped a couple of serve games at the beginning and just managed to win one breakpoint.
Scores moved on to 3-1 in favour of the American who retained the lead until the end.
Stephens led the scores 5-3 in the second set when the Slovak faltered for the third time to gift an easy victory to her rival. It was a very disturbing beginning to the new season for the 23-year-old Slovak. On the other end,
the 19-year-old American marked a marvellous start to her 2013 campaign and hinted at improving more in the upcoming days.
World number nine, Samantha Stosur, will take on the likes of the Swede number one, Sofia Arvidsson, in the first round contest at Brisbane. The winner from the stated contest will lock horns against the 19-year-old American star
in the hunt for a spot at the quarter-final of the event, on Tuesday.
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