SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova is staying optimistic. Even though she has lost her first two matches at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, she still has a slim chance of qualifying for the semifinals.

That’s if she can beat Simona Halep in straight sets – and that’s always going to be tough to do.

“I have to see it in a good way,” she said after her 6-1, 6-4 loss to Madison Keys. “If I see it in a bad way that I lost two matches then I will be really down.

“It’s a big challenge for me. [It’s my] first time playing here…I want to give 100 per cent on the court. Knowing this, that I can still go into semifinals, I will…be as positive as I can and to win my match against Halep.”

Cibulkova will need to be quick off the mark against the Romanian – and she struggled to do that against Keys.

“I tried,” she recalled. “In the second set I tried to change something. Even my coach came. He helped me with the strategy a little bit. [We] tried to change, but it was still not enough. Maybe I needed a little bit more time. It was too late when I started to get into the match the right way where I wanted.”

Cibulkova did not have the best start to her match against Keys when she forgot to walk out with her ball kid and had to go back for her.

“I was just waving to the people around and forgot!” she admitted. “I didn’t see the ball kid. And then from my box they tell me, like, ‘You forgot the ball kid.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, no way.’ So I went for her bag and I took her bag, so it was nice.”

She is, of course, enjoying the opportunity of competing in Singapore, but there is a hint of disappointment in her reflection on her matches so far – losing to Keys after having lost to Angelique Kerber

“I’m happy I’m experiencing this for the first time,” she explained. “It is different. You feel like, ‘Okay, this is only eight top players in the world,’ and you want to try to play your best tennis. Of course it’s different because you can lose two matches and now the situation – I can win the third one and still can go on [to the semifinals].

“So it’s [a] very new experience for me. I’m happy to be here and to see and to live it, but I’m hoping to win a match. I will do everything to win a match this year.”