Last year Dominika Cibulkova won her first WTA title at the Kremlin Cup and now she’s through to the second round after a 2-6 6-4 6-2 victory over Ekaterina Makarova, this month’s addition to the Top 20.
The fifth-seeded Cibulkova lost four consecutive games to give away the first set, before taking the second set by virtue of the crucial break in the tenth game and winning the decider quite easily. Tsvetana Pironkova, who beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-0 7-6(3), now awaits the defending champion.
The Premier-level Moscow tournament has no WTA Championships singles qualifiers in the field, but both the alternates are there, as top two seeds, fighting for the position of the definite first alternate: No.1 Samantha Stosur and No.2 Marion Bartoli. They both had a bye in the first round. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
