World No.21 Dominika Cibulkova spectacularly won two big matches in one day to reach her fourth final of 2016 at the Premier-level Aegon International Eastbourne.
The Slovak’s first challenge this Friday was to victoriously finish her rain-delayed Thursday’s quarterfinal against top seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who was in complete control of the match by the moment weather conditions stopped play. Being a set and a break down when the match resumed today, Cibulkova started turning things around right away, breaking Radwanska’s serve and resisting the Pole’s fightback to win the match 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3.
Shortly afterwards, Cibulkova returned to the grasscourts to face Monica Puig for a spot in the title match. Even though Puig was well-rested, as opposed to Cibulkova, it was Cibulkova who started off way stronger and held on to that surge to comfortably beat Puig 6-2 6-1. Puig didn’t win a single game from 2-2 in the first set until 3-0 in the second set. Moreover, the Puerto Rican earned her first break point at 5-1 in the second set, but didn’t convert it and Cibulkova celebrated a quick victory.
Next up for the Slovak will be either Eastbourne’s local Johanna Konta or Karolina Pliskova. (photos: Jimmie48)
It’s third time in a row now that Aga is losing a match she already basically had in her pocket… On the other hand I’m wondering if there wasn’t some kind of cold calculation behind this loss. Winning would not only mean playing two matches today but also another tomorrow. And with Wimbledon starting on Monday and Aga having high hopes for it, it would probably mean playing three weeks in a row. With Aga physics it’s not a perfect solution (actually, it’s probably not a perfect solution for anyone). Sooo, go for it Domi, Aga’s going the get her revenge at Wimbledon 🙂
Maddie, you’re really looking at it from a brighter side 😀