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Cibulkova grinds down Halep to stay alive in Singapore
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 [October 27, 2016]
By John O'Brien
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Dominika
Cibulkova kept her hopes of reaching the last four of the WTA Finals
alive with a gritty 6-3 7-6(5) Red Group victory over Simona Halep
at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
After losing her opening round robin matches to Angelique Kerber and
Madison Keys, the Slovak needed a straight-sets win to have any
chance of advancing and she managed to keep her side of the bargain
in a display full of determination.
Her victory ensured the unbeaten Kerber qualified for the
semi-finals without hitting a ball and Cibulkova will be hoping the
German can return the favor in the late match by beating Keys in
straight sets to take the Slovak through with her.
The American, however, needs to take just one set off world number
one Kerber to advance while Halep, the losing finalist at the elite
eight-woman event in 2014, was eliminated following the loss to
Cibulkova.
Cibulkova came out all guns blazing, looking far more composed and
urgent than her opponent, harrying Halep on every point and breaking
to love at the first opportunity as she raced to a 3-0 lead in less
than 10 minutes.
Halep, whose left knee was heavily taped, was struggling to get a
foothold in the contest but after halting Cibulkova's winning streak
at 13 points, the Romanian eked out a hold to finally get on the
scoreboard in the fourth game.
The Slovak continued to look focused and determined to move 5-2
ahead and although the Romanian enjoyed her easiest hold of the
match in the eighth game, Cibulkova sealed the opening set with a
big serve down the middle that Halep sent long.
The world number eight started the second set as she had the first,
utilizing her devastating forehand to break in the opening game as
she pushed for the straight sets triumph she needed to stay in the
tournament.
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Dominika Cibulkova of
Slovakia celebrates after defeating Simona Halep of Romania.
REUTERS/Edgar Su
Halep knew she needed to stem the flow quickly to avoid being blown
away and the Romanian dug deep to forge her first two break points
of the match and seized the second of them to level up the second
set at 1-1.
Cibulkova was still on the front foot and calling the shots but
after breaking her opponent twice in a row toward the end of the
set, Halep came storming back and tensions mounted as the set moved
inevitably to a tiebreak.
Still playing the aggressor, the Slovak edged ahead after the change
of ends before she polished off a brilliant victory when Halep sent
a backhand wide on the first match point.
(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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