Cibulkova Claims Eastbourne Crown

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

EASTBOURNE, England – Dominika Cibulkova capped off a fantastic week on the English seaside by winning her career-first grass court title at the Aegon International Eastbourne, blasting past Nottingham champion Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3.

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Cibulkova, who was forced to miss much of the 2015 season after undergoing Achilles surgery, seems to have firmly put her injury woes behind her. The resurgent Slovak was into her fourth final of the year at Eastbourne – including a run to the title in April at the Katowice Open. In fact, she’s tied only with Serena Williams for most finals appearances so far this year.

Things started off a little complicated for the 2014 Australian Open finalist as she went down a break right away. However, the swirling seaside winds wreaked havoc on Pliskova’s normally imperious service games, restoring parity and making for a topsy-turvy first set that saw them trade breaks three times. Cibulkova finally came away with the fourth and decisive break in the final game to take the first set 7-5.

With both players more acclimated to the conditions, the second set was more tightly drawn until Cibulkova clinched the break off a blistering backhand passing shot for a 3-1 lead. She tamped down a late surge from Pliskova to hold serve in a marathon 11-minute game to bring herself to 5-2 and within striking distance of the title.

Watching the ball sail long, Cibulkova could hardly contain her emotions after winning her second WTA title of the year.

“It’s very hard to describe, this has been my best week on grass and it just feels – it just happened and I can’t believe it,” Cibulkova said. “I was playing really well today but the conditions were really hard for me and my opponent. It was a great week for me.

“This is my second time here and I’m gonna come back many more years.”

Despite missing out on the Eastbourne title, Pliskova — who earlier this month won the title at the Aegon Open Nottingham and captured the doubles title at the Aegon Classic Birmingham — can’t complain about her grass court preparations.

“I’m really happy with the way I played this year on grass, with Wimbledon coming so I hope to have better results there,” she said after the match. “I have at least one title and now a final so it’s not that bad.”

With the win, Cibulkova is projected to grab a coveted Top 8 spot on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard, jumping from No.12 to No.7 after Monday’s rankings. She will now be ranked No.18, back into the WTA Top 20 for the first time in almost two years.

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