Less than two hours after stunning top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in a rain-delayed match, twelfth seed Dominika Cibulkova routed qualifier Monica Puig 6-2, 6-1 to book her place in the final of the 2016 Aegon International, her first grass court final. In the showpiece, Cibulkova will meet tenth seed Karolina Pliskova, who battled back from a set down to defeat home favourite Johanna Konta in the final match of the day.
Cibulkova Off to Flying Start, Takes Opening Set
After the first five games of the match went with serve, both players were desperately searching for a difference maker that would earn them that elusive break. But ultimately, it was the Slovak, the more experienced of the two, who threatened to make the first move. After squandering a pair of break points in Puig’s opening service game, as well as another in game six, Cibulkova’s persistence was soon rewarded; a brilliant crosscourt forehand wrong footing Puig to claim the first break and with it, a 4-2 lead. Zoned in, the Slovak continued to pepper Puig’s baseline, not allowing the Puerto Rican to get ahead in the majority of the rallies, thus allowing her to consolidate the vital break, as well as put her within one game of taking the set. Serving to stay in the set, Puig crumbled from 30-0 up; a routine backhand put away on set point dumped into the net sealing Cibulkova the opener, 6-2.
Cibulkova Secures Berth in Showpiece
After claiming the vital break in game six of the opening set, everything seemed to shift in the favour of Cibulkova, who was looking to carry that same momentum into the early stages of the second set. After holding to open the second set, the Slovak broke at the second time of asking as unfortunately for Puig, the Puerto Rican’s attempts to play out of her comfort zone made her unable to control her errors. From there, Cibulkova faced her first real onslaught on serve in a tense third game, but her ability to rise to the occasion when it mattered most proved to be the difference maker as she consolidated the break to go a set and 3-0 to the good.
To her credit, Puig was not willing to give up so easily, having fought tooth and nail in all of her matches this week; an easy hold getting her on the board and keeping her in touch with Cibulkova. However, the twelfth seed showed little desire to hang on around any longer than she needed to, responding with an easy hold of her own—this one at love.
As the qualifier continued to struggle to find any rhythm while having to consistently counter the brute force she, herself, would normally hit with, Cibulkova took full advantage. After squandering two break points earlier in the game, the world number 21 made no mistake the third time around; a wayward forehand from Puig giving Cibulkova at least two opportunities to serve for the match, a set and 5-1 clear. But in the end, the 27-year-old proved she needed just the one, sealing a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 victory as Puig sent a forehand return into the middle of the net.
“I would say this is my best day on a grass court,” Cibulkova said after the match. “I’m extremely happy—I’m playing so well. She was really tough to play against because she’s playing completely different tennis to Radwanska, she played well today but I was just better.”
