Singapore: Cibulkova Interview
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her final win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her final win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
One week on from a painful opening night defeat to Kerber, Cibulkova gained revenge in spectacular fashion, powering to a 6-3, 6-4 victory in an hour and 16 minutes.
“I have no words, coming here for the first time, the biggest tournament of my life. I still don’t know how I won, I put the ball over the net and it went in; it’s the happiest moment of my life,” Cibulkova said in her on-court interview.
Cibulkova dominated from the outset, bossing the baseline exchanges to romp through the first set. There was no let-up in the second, as the Slovak continued to attack anything remotely short with gusto.
At 3-3, the pressure paid off, the German firing wide to slip a break behind. For all the spectacular winners from the back of the court, arguably the most impressive aspect of the World No.8’s performance was her serve; a remarkable 83% first-serve percentage neutralized Kerber’s famed return game.
The only wobble came as she closed in on the biggest title of her career. Three match points came and went before Lady Luck intervened, the ball clipping the tape and dropping dead onto Kerber’s side.
“It wasn’t easy to go on the court after two losses but I was mentally very strong and I knew I played well in the first two matches, I was just a little bit unlucky. Then at the end I was lucky!”
The masterclass – which featured 28 winners and only 14 unforced errors – was a fitting end to a dramatic debut at the WTA Finals.
After falling in three sets to Kerber in her opening round-robin match, she was roundly beaten by Madison Keys to leave her hopes hanging by a thread. However, victory over Simona Halep in her third outing saw her sneak into the semifinals, where she then staged a brilliant comeback against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Cibulkova is the second player in a row after Agnieszka Radwanska to win the WTA Finals after only one victory in the three round-robin games. She is also the first debutante to lift the title at the season-ending showpiece since Petra Kvitova in 2011, and the achievement will see her climb to a career-high No.5 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her final defeat at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
SINGAPORE – Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina produced a brilliant performance on Sunday afternoon to defeat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova and lift the doubles title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!
A high-quality encounter was settled by a few moments of inspiration as the Russian pair closed out a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory after an hour and 38 minutes.
“It was such a great match. It was really a pleasure to play against Bethanie and Lucie and to be honest we really enjoyed playing it,” Vesnina told on-court interviewer Andrew Krasny afterwards. “We weren’t sure until the very end that we were going to win it. It was a really, really close match.”
Makarova and Vesnina have twice come up short at the year-end showpiece and more disappointment looked on the cards when they failed to serve out the opening set at 5-3. However, the ensuing tie-break – and ultimately the match – turned on a brilliant lob from Vesnina, leaving her partner with the simplest of winners. Two points later, Vesnina came up trumps again, her return finding the baseline to clinch the set.
They continued to make most of the running in the second, only to be denied by some wonderfully instinctive net play. At 4-3 the breakthrough finally came, Mattek-Sands sending a half-volley floating wide to surrender serve. There was still time for some late jitters, the previously immaculate Makarova firing long before swinging a serve out wide to close out victory at the fourth time of asking.
“It was a tough match and it was a little bit up and down. It was very important not to have a third set, because the deciding tie-break is a little bit tricky,” Makarova added. “Luckily we could stay solid and focused.”
The triumph comes on the back of a glorious summer in which the pair brought back Olympic gold from Rio. “This year for us has been amazing. The year-end Finals in Singapore is something we’ve been dreaming to win, so this is like a dream come true.”
For Mattek-Sands and Safarova, the result brings to an end an 18-match unbeaten run. It also denies Mattek-Sands the chance to overhaul Sania Mirza at the top of the rankings and finish as 2016 WTA Year-End No.1 Ranking, presented by Dubai Duty Free.
An interview with Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina after their final win at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
SINGAPORE – Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova were in high spirits as they reflected on their win over Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, which made them the doubles champions at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“We were coming here so motivated to have this trophy,” Makarova admitted in their post-match press conference. “We came so early, because two years ago we came quite late – we had just two days for practice.”
“Not enough,” Vesnina interjected.
“Yeah, we came one week before [this year’s tournament began], and were ready, and really wanted this trophy,” Makarova continued. “We’re so happy that we did it today.”
They were quick to pay tribute to their vanquished opponents, and the role they played in making the match such a special occasion.
“We [have] always had tough matches against Lucie and Bethanie,” Vesnina said. “We know that it has to be [a] good match from us and we have to… up our level of the game, because otherwise we won’t beat them. It was really good quality tennis today in the final.”
Vesnina and Makarova’s win meant that Sania Mirza finishes the year as Doubles World No.1. The champions wondered whether she might want to thank them for their part in her ranking – or whether she was still smarting from her semifinal loss.
“Congrats to Sania, by the way,” Vesnina said with a smile. “She should give us some gift, I think. We still beat her in the semifinal so she’s upset.”
The new champions were also keen to talk about why they think their partnership works – despite the two players being polar opposites.
“We are different a little bit, but I think that [the partnership] is working because we are different,” Makarova suggested. “Yeah, I’m more quiet and Lena is more –
“I’m talking all the time!” interrupted Vesnina, and her partner agreed. “She’s lefty; I’m a right-hander. Left-handed people, you know that they’re thinking with a different part of the brain and I’m thinking with a different [part of mine]. So that’s why we’re different, but we are still together.”
“Yes – but we are still good to each other,” Makarova added.
Unsurprisingly, the pair are planning a break between Christmas and New Year – but are expecting that they will reunite in January to begin their 2017 campaign.
“For sure we will play Australian Open together, yeah; maybe the tournament before,” Makarova confirmed.
“Now we want to enjoy this moment. We want to have a holiday. She goes to Zhuhai, so her season is not finished yet. We wish you will all big good luck there -same way as here.
“Then definitely, yeah, we will be ready for Australia.”
Highlights from semifinal action at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
World No.1 Angelique Kerber admitted she was disappointed to miss out on the WTA Finals title – but she is already looking ahead to more exciting opportunities next year.
“I am a little bit disappointed after the loss, but for sure I gave everything,” she said in her post-match press conference at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
“It was a tough year with a lot of matches. When I’m looking back it was one of my best years. When I go home now I will think about the best moments and the positive emotions.”
Kerber admitted that she had not played her best tennis, and praised the aggression of Dominika Cibulkova, who beat her 6-3, 6-4.
She agreed that 2016 had been physically and mentally grueling, with a packed schedule, but, as she pointed out, she also had plenty of highlights.
“I had a lot of matches, a lot of tough matches – but also a lot of great finals, a lot of great memories [that] I received this year,” she said, before adding with a smile: “Of course, now I’m ready for the vacation.”
After a short break, she will be ready to begin her 2017 campaign – when she will be defending her top-ranking status against a returning Serena Williams.
“I am looking forward to next year, for sure,” she said. “I’m also looking forward to playing again against Serena – and against all the other tough opponents.”
Dominika Cibulkova takes on Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
New WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova is about to step up into the Top 5 rankings – and for the first time in her career, she genuinely feels she belongs there.