Dominika Cibulkova once again had the edge she needed to win at the Wuhan Open Monday after noon. The world number 12 defeated Alize Cornet 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on Court 1. The match had signs of strength from both ends, but in the end saw Cibulkova coming out victorious in the three set match.
The 10th seed began her tournament run in China with the hope of keeping the success alive against Cornet. She won four of their last five with their last meeting occurring over a year ago. The Slovakian put in plenty of practice through the remainder of last week since losing out in the second round in Tokyo. The world number 12 had very little time left in the season to make a difference in her ranked position. With just a few big tournaments left, Cibulkova had to bring it all back and put in a good opening match.
She found things to be a breeze taking the lead after two that left her with a 3-1 hold. Cornet managed to hold serve for the first time avoiding Cibulkova to walk away with the score. In the sixth, the French star went for an important break that helped her put pressure but soon found herself on deuce. After six minutes and three breaks, the Slovakian held up her side of offense to double her margin over Cornet.
The 10th seed had everything under control taking a commanding 5-2 hold smoothing her way to a set victory. With perfect endings to the rallies, Cibulkova got on triple set point where a seven shot rally ending with a winner flying by Cornet’s left hand side. It was a strong statement that took her just 38 minutes to complete while knowing full well of her dominance against Cornet.
With herself in a hole, Cornet had to get her game to a higher degree to match the strength of Cibulkova. She handled the adversity on service but soon fell in the second as the Slovakian ran way with the second game. She tried to come back with the same success from the first holding in the third, and gained some serious ground.
A 4-1 run for the French star allowed her to get closer but still had to deal with the fight on court. With another one under her belt, it left Cibulkova with very little chance of a comeback. She produced a win on the break in the seventh game, but her service was trounced by Cornet who capped the set win. The French star won 80 percent of her shots on the first serve that was enough to carry her struggling second service. With improvements on the return, she gave herself a solid chance to do well in the third and pull off an upset.
The battle for control began the third set with the players getting to a deuce that looked to go on for some time. After several breaks and a tug of war for control, it was the Slovakian who came out with the victory adding on to it in the second. She took the next two victories but not without plenty of effort going in all of them. The 27-year-old got out of trouble on deuce maintaining the winning streak.
Cornet ended it with a win in the fifth but with Cibulkova carrying a big lead, it would be a difficult task of making the third set a dramatic one. She never got further opportunities to do so as Cibulkova gained the last two games she need to put away her first round opponent and move on after two hours and six minutes. She’ll go on to face Laura Siegemund in the second round scheduled for Wednesday.
Photo by: Koji Wantanabe
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