Tennis News

BRISBANE, Australia – Alizé Cornet played an inspired match to oust the reigning WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova and secure her spot in the semifinals of the Brisbane International.

The No.2 seed Cibulkova had to mount a major comeback in her previous match when Zhang Shuai had her a set and a break down, but she couldn’t come up with enough to pull it off again as she fell to Cornet 6-3, 7-5.

Cornet, the only non-seed through to the quarterfinals, reached just one semifinal all of last year; now she’s knocked out the World No.5 to do so in her very first tournament of 2017.

What a rally! ?@AlizeCornet holds 5-2 in the opening set vs Cibulkova! #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/tdAuyaETot

— WTA (@WTA) January 5, 2017

“What a start of the year! It’s the first week and I think my game is not so bad!” Cornet enthused after the match. “Beating a player like Dominika takes an amazing performance, everybody knows how much she fights and hits hard the ball. I’m just very, very, very happy.”

Cibulkova will likely rue her missed opportunities – she had ample chances to take the lead in the first set, with four break points coming in the first three games alone. But every time she was against the wall, the Frenchwoman found a first serve to bail her out of trouble as she did throughout the match.

A pair of daring back-to-back dropshots gave Cornet the first break of the match, which she quickly consolidated for a 4-1 lead after edging Cibulkova in a monumental effort. The pair were neck and neck throughout the first set, but as the match progressed it was Cornet that won the big points and close games.

Into a second set, Cornet continued to claim the scrappy points, changing up the pace and keeping the ball in play to force Cibulkova to make the error. The Slovak was visibly frustrated like many of Cornet’s opponents as the Frenchwoman went to the dropshot time and time again to build a 4-1 lead.

.@Cibulkova is back in it!

Levels the score 5-5 in the second set! #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/CDP6N3gW40

— WTA (@WTA) January 5, 2017

Despite her vital first serves, Cornet struggled with double faults giving up 10 during the course of the match, including two in the same game to give Cibulkova a lifeline down 5-3. The World No.5 consolidated, finding ways to maneuver Cornet into the corners of the court to hit past her, finally breaking to level the set 5-5. But the Frenchwoman would not be denied and broke straight back, holding her nerve to serve it out after a two hour and three minute battle.

Cornet credited the good vibes in Australia for bringing out her best tennis, after all last year she won the title at the Hobart International.

“I always say Australia is a lucky charm for me, I always play good here! And Brisbane is a bigger tournament than Hobart, so being in the semifinal means a lot to me. I hope I’ll be ready and fit for the next match.”

Through to the Brisbane semifinals for the first time, Frenchwoman awaits the winner between No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza and No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova to play for a spot in the final.