Johanna Konta kept her end of the game on top at the Western & Southern Open Thursday. The British number one fought the skills of Dominika Cibulkova to maintain a straight sets victory 6-3, 6-4 on Stadium Three at the Linder Family Tennis Center.
The two haven’t met in over a year with their series dead even leading to their third meeting. Konta won the last match on her way to her first WTA title. It’s been quite some time since Konta’s victory at Miami making it her third career title and second this season. With the hope of being successful on the hard courts again. The British number one would attempt to follow her win over Kiki Bertens with control and a path to victory.
They got into the service hold, but Konta turn the tables quickly in the third with a break of the Slovakian. She ran with a break and service hold taking a 3-1 hold before Cibulkova nailed down another win. The British number one remained firm to keep two games between herself and the 28-year-old through six games. The seventh saw a battle for Konta as she and Cibulkova got into deuce with the Brit trying to hold her end, but after three breaks the leverage went to the 11th seed who saved the game.
Konta got back the ball after breaking Cibulkova leaving her at a point of staying ahead on the score to give herself a shot at the set. The Slovakian challenged her but after a short break, the seventh seed got the set point on a second try to finish the first in 47 minutes. She had 12 winners on the day but struggled to maintain her strong first serve.
Despite the slow start, Konta came out in the second set with a hold that followed on for a time. The Slovakian was beginning to show strength as she led the way while also trying to break Konta. They went three breaks in the sixth that resulted in Konta getting the save on her serve. The pressure on was Cibulkova to act in which she held after an eight-minute game that remained in her favor.
It was a race to the finish line with each player inching closer to the much needed six games. By the ninth game, Konta was up 5-4 with the ball in play to serve for the match. She began with good returns in the rallies and a far off shot that gave Konta triple match point. On a big smash, Cibulkova tried to redirect it down the line but the British star got to it in time to fire back and angled winner away from the Slovakian concluding the 1 hour 42 minutes of play. Despite the long delay prior to the match, Konta was happy enough to close out her day in order to prepare for her quarterfinal bout against second ranked Simona Halep on Friday.
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