Dominika Cibulkova reigned supreme in Eastbourne at the Aegon International as she claimed the first grass court title of her career. Her opponent Karolina Pliskova has now lost five of the last seven WTA Finals she has contested.
Dominika Cibulkova: How the final unfolded
Pliskova started off the stronger of the two players. That did not last long as the windy conditions played havoc with the consistency of Pliskova’s serve. This became apparent in the first Pliskova service which brought up three double faults inside one game. The first five games featured four breaks of service, which further highlights the testing conditions that both players had to deal with throughout this encounter.
Cibulkova survived from two break deficits in the first set to take the set 7-5. The winning formula mainly came through Cibulkova’s technically brilliant footwork, while the movement of Pliskova was left wanting in most periods of the match. Cibulkova was aware of the fact that she needed to expose the flaws in Pliskova’s footwork around the court in order to win this final and she did.
A major factor that played a huge role in the outcome of the final was Cibulkova’s return game. Pliskova required nothing less than a faultless serving display to get the better of the fiery Slovakian and her serving numbers reflected a considerable slump in that department in comparison to her previous match against Konta. The persistent and ruthless return of serves finding the baseline with regularity, really did support Cibulkova’s case for a first grass court title of her career.
In addition to this, Cibulkova found a lot of success in bringing Pliskova to the net on her terms. The advantages of sending Pliskova forward on many occasions was in the best interest for Cibulkova as Pliskova isn’t renowned for her ability to move forwards and backwards smoothly. The content of the second set was undoubtedly fantastic from Cibulkova, with her forehand from within the baseline proving to be the most effective shot of the match. Realizing that Pliskova is far more dangerous when the ball is struck relatively close to her, enabled Cibulkova to spread the court and eventually get Pliskova moving as much as possible. Cibulkova successfully did this with her expansive ball-striking from the forehand for large portions of this match.
Pliskova’s game relies heavily on a high percentage of first serve points won. Cibulkova found a way to control the points to her advantage through manipulating the ball on the seconds serve delivery.
The deciding backhand unforced error on match point signalled Cibulkova prevailing as the victor for the second time in 2016.
The conditions were a huge factor in this match up and Cibulkova reiterated that in her tournament-winning press conference.
“It was extremely tough match today. With the conditions and with the wind it was really, really, really tough to play and focus. That’s why I was really strong about today that I was — in the beginning I was a little bit nervous about the wind, so my serve wasn’t really working well. Then when my coach came, he said, you know, just focus on your serve. Don’ focus too much on the wind. Do the same things when there is no wind. So, yeah, I was in the rallies and I found my rhythm after a while. You know, I was just feeling really good on the court. I knew what I had to do. I was going for my forehands and was really solid on the backhand. I was also returning pretty well. So all these things came together and that’s why I won today.”
The Aegon International Champion also tried to compare where this achievement ranks in comparison to her previous accomplishments on a tennis court.
“You know, this one is really special one. You know, this is a special title. It’s second title of the year. I was never able to win two titles in one year. We’re in the half of the season and this is my second one. So it feels just great. It’s my first one on the grass. This tournament, I would say it’s the toughest one before the Grand Slam, because, you know, everybody want to play on grass and this is a big one. So, you know, the competition here was really strong. I was able to beat the top players on the grass, so it gives me a lot of confidence.”
Cibulkova now plays her Wimbledon first round against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on Tuesday. Can she beat another experienced grass court player and make another impressive run at Wimbledon?
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