Tennis News

Dominika Cibulkova, the reigning WTA Tour Finals champion, is gearing up for Doha and Dubai as she looks for her first tournament win of 2017.

The Slovak’s unprecedented success last year, in which she won tournaments in Katowice, Eastbourne and Linz before taking the title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, saw her rise to No.5 in the World Rankings. Now, she goes to the Qatar Total Open as the third seed in a star-studded field.

“This is my highest ranking,” the 27-year-old told Gulf Today. “You can feel the expectation and the pressure. This is something I’m trying to deal with.”

Cibulkova is among the favourites to win in Doha and is confident she knows how to handle the heat. “I have my rituals,” she said. “What I do during the match, I just want to focus on tennis, on the tactics. You put away the wrong thoughts you have on the court, like, I should win, or, I don’t want to lose.”

Doha has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for the 2014 Australian Open finalist. Her best result came in her first visit in 2008, when she reached the quarterfinals before being beaten in three sets by Agnieszka Radwanska.

However the first Slovak to reach a Grand Slam final has broken into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings for the first time and is confident the weight of expectation for her to improve her record will not prove a burden. “You just put it away,” she said, “and you focus on the right things.”

PARIS, France – Samantha Stosur dodged the rain and rolled back the years to dash Simona Halep’s French Open hopes on Tuesday.

Resuming at 5-3 down in the first set, Stosur powered through the heavy conditions and Halep’s defenses to triumph, 7-6(0), 6-3.

Halep was very much in ascendency when the match was originally stopped on Sunday evening. However, on their return 2010 runner-up Stosur was a different proposition entirely, winning the first seven points. A netted backhand ended the streak but did not halt the momentum, an inside-out forehand winner drawing her level at 5-5.

This vintage form continued into the tie-break, Stosur steamrolling Halep to complete the turnaround. The only thing that threatened the Australian’s dominance was the rain, which duly arrived at 3-2 in the second set.

This merely delayed the celebrations, though, Stosur returning to complete the job when Halep sent a drive volley sailing long.

Stosur arrived in Paris carrying a wrist injury, which forced her to withdraw from her final tune-up event.

“I didn’t know what kind of result or performance I was going to have regardless of the wrist injury, but I said after my first round I did exactly what I needed to do for that and sort it out and came here early.

“It was unfortunate I had to pull out of Strasbourg, but I needed those days to recover. Thankfully, touch wood, it’s been okay so far. I’m not struggling with it at all. I’m not even thinking about it now. I still have it taped, but it’s not bothering me and I’m able to play some of my best tennis.”