Singapore: Cibulkova Interview
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her semifinal win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her semifinal win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her win in the semifinals of the Miami Open.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Relive the game-by-game updates of the 2016 China Open final as former champ Agnieszka Radwanska took on history-making Johanna Konta.
WTA Insider | In the second WTA Insider Live Blog of Semifinal Saturday, World No.1 Angelique Kerber defeated defending WTA Finals champion Agnieszka Radwanska.
The 2016 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued in Beijing for the China Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world.
For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.
USANA Brand Ambassadors Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur, Kristina Mladenovic, Madison Keys, Monica Puig, Sloane Stephens, Zheng Saisai, Alizé Cornet and Caroline Wozniacki hit 32 of the 312 aces in Beijing – raising a grand total of $1,820 throughout the week. Keys hit the most with 23 aces.
Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!
#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway
It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Last year there was a total of 106 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.
How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Beijing deadline is October 18 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced October 24th
Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.
For full rules on how to enter, click here.
New WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova is about to step up into the Top 5 rankings – and for the first time in her career, she genuinely feels she belongs there.
LINZ, Austria – Dominika Cibulkova kept alive her hopes of reaching the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a routine 6-1, 6-2 victory over Belinda Bencic in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz.
The World No.8 is currently ninth in the road to Singapore, with three places remaining unclaimed, and took a wildcard in Austria to boost her chances of qualification.
The No.2 seed skipped into a first-set lead, breaking the 19-year-old in her opening service game. She was pegged back immediately, but did not drop a game for the rest of the first set, which she claimed 6-1 at a canter.
Cibulkova did not waste any time in the second set, either. Breaking in the first game, she sped to a 2-0 lead before breaking again to go 4-1 ahead. Bencic enjoyed a brief comeback, halving the deficit to 4-2 but the 27-year-old immediately restored her cushion and claimed the second set 6-2.
“It was a really tough draw, most of the times when wildcards play each other, it should be easier than this. It was a really tough one and I was prepared for a big battle today,” the Slovak said of being drawn with Bencic.
“I was playing solid, I did nothing extra; I was playing solid and really fast. I was just playing really good tennis from the first point to the last.”
Reacting to comments from her opponent that she “killed her”, Cibulkova responded: “I wouldn’t say ‘I killed’ her, she’s a great player, so I would say I won a lot of very important points and that made a difference. It just shows that I was really strong mentally today.”
Cibulkova will face Annika Beck in the next round for a place in the quarterfinals.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
One week on from a painful opening night defeat to Kerber, Cibulkova gained revenge in spectacular fashion, powering to a 6-3, 6-4 victory in an hour and 16 minutes.
“I have no words, coming here for the first time, the biggest tournament of my life. I still don’t know how I won, I put the ball over the net and it went in; it’s the happiest moment of my life,” Cibulkova said in her on-court interview.
Cibulkova dominated from the outset, bossing the baseline exchanges to romp through the first set. There was no let-up in the second, as the Slovak continued to attack anything remotely short with gusto.
At 3-3, the pressure paid off, the German firing wide to slip a break behind. For all the spectacular winners from the back of the court, arguably the most impressive aspect of the World No.8’s performance was her serve; a remarkable 83% first-serve percentage neutralized Kerber’s famed return game.
The only wobble came as she closed in on the biggest title of her career. Three match points came and went before Lady Luck intervened, the ball clipping the tape and dropping dead onto Kerber’s side.
“It wasn’t easy to go on the court after two losses but I was mentally very strong and I knew I played well in the first two matches, I was just a little bit unlucky. Then at the end I was lucky!”
The masterclass – which featured 28 winners and only 14 unforced errors – was a fitting end to a dramatic debut at the WTA Finals.
After falling in three sets to Kerber in her opening round-robin match, she was roundly beaten by Madison Keys to leave her hopes hanging by a thread. However, victory over Simona Halep in her third outing saw her sneak into the semifinals, where she then staged a brilliant comeback against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Cibulkova is the second player in a row after Agnieszka Radwanska to win the WTA Finals after only one victory in the three round-robin games. She is also the first debutante to lift the title at the season-ending showpiece since Petra Kvitova in 2011, and the achievement will see her climb to a career-high No.5 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
Their match was interrupted by rain, making it difficult for both to keep their focus – but eventually the world No. 1 came through 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
The world No.1 admitted: “It’s not easy when a match is suspended and you have so much time between [sessions of play].”
She added that she was satisfied with her performance – despite being forced to a decider by her American opponent.
“At the end, I won the match, and this is what counts for me,” she said, but she was quick to give credit to Chirico.
“It’s always tough playing someone you’ve never played — I think she played very well yesterday but also today.”
The Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai gets underway on Tuesday, Elina Svitolina and Timea Bacsinzsky among those hoping to make a winning start to their final event of 2016.