Cibulkova battles back to reach Singapore final
Send a link to a friend
[October 29, 2016]
By John O'Brien
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Dominika
Cibulkova continued her dream debut at the WTA Finals with a
thrilling 1-6 7-6(2) 6-4 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova to battle
through to the final after rallying past the Russian in an absorbing
encounter on Saturday.
The 27-year-old will take on the winner of the second semi-final
between world number one Angelique Kerber and defending champion
Agnieszka Radwanska in Sunday's final, a showdown that looked
unlikely after Kuznetsova raced through the first set.
"This is my first time here and it's one of my dreams come true,
just incredible," world number eight Cibulkova said.
"In the first set she blew me away, so I was able to change things
up and won because I was more aggressive on the court."
The Slovakian, who had won their last five encounters, enjoyed a
bright opening and threatened on Kuznetsova's first service game but
some booming forehands bailed out the Russian, who then edged ahead
when she broke in the third game.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/29/images/ads/current/burtonview_coop_sda_daily_farm_2016.png)
Kuznetsova was now firing on all cylinders, pushing Cibulkova all
around the court and forcing her opponent into errors and a huge
return winner down the line gave the world number nine a second
straight break.
Cibulkova was unable to make any inroads at all on Kuznetsova's
serve with the rampant Russian calling all the shots and breaking
for a third straight time when another forehand error handed her the
set in 32 minutes.
Kuznetsova continued to press and probe Cibulkova at the start of
the second set but the Slovakian stepped up her intensity levels to
manufacture her first break of the match in the fifth game for a 3-2
lead.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/102916pics/sports51.jpg)
Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia celebrates after defeating Svetlana
Kuznetsova of Russia. REUTERS/Edgar Su
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
The Russian fought back immediately to put the set back on serve and
as the tension mounted, neither player was capable of holding and
four consecutive breaks from the ninth game sent it into a
tiebreaker.
Cibulkova maintained her aggression in the tiebreak, quickly racing
6-2 ahead as Kuznetsova struggled to keep pace with her and the
Slovakian sent the contest into a decider when she sent a backhand
winner past her static opponent.
In a contest between two of the sport's most tenacious battlers, the
third set was punctuated with several swings in momentum before
Cibulkova followed up a gutsy hold from 15-40 in the ninth game to
seal victory with another break.
Cibulkova qualified for the year-ending championships for the first
time after tournament wins in Kotowice, Eastbourne and Linz, and she
squeaked into the semi-finals with a 1-2 round robin record after
thrashing Simona Halep on Thursday.
(Editing by xxxxx)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/29/images/ads/current/ldn_more_readers_bch.png) |