Madrid: Cibulkova vs. Chirico
Dominika Cibulkova takes on Louisa Chirico in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Dominika Cibulkova takes on Louisa Chirico in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MADRID, Spain – Simona Halep returned to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open after outclassing Samantha Stosur on Friday evening.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!
Fifty-one minutes was all it took for Halep to romp home, 6-2, 6-0, and advance to her first final since last summer. There she will face Dominika Cibulkova, who won an equally one-sided encounter against Louisa Chirico earlier in the day.
There was little in the opening quarter of an hour on court to suggest the emphatic scoreline that was to follow, the players splitting the first four games as they traded on equal terms from the back of the court.
When Stosur moved 30-0 ahead in the next game, another hold looked on the cards. However, a couple of wayward forehands left the door ajar for Halep to break and with it change the feel of the match.
Less than 10 minutes later, Halep was serving for the set, confidently closing it out to love. The Romanian was now the one dictating the points, expertly sliding to flick a crosscourt backhand in the opening game of the second set. This display of dexterity brought up break point and she converted with an equally confident forehand.
All facets of Halep’s game were now purring as she hurtled towards the finishing line, dropping only four more points before wrapping up victory with her fourth ace of the match.
The other statistics bore equally pleasant reading, as she finished with an 80% first serve percentage and did not face a single break point. “It looked like the perfect game,” Halep told the press after the match. “In the morning actually I was a little bit sore from all the matches this week. Then I warmed up and I felt really well.
“I knew how she would play – I’ve played many times against her – and her game suits mine very well.”
A tougher challenge is likely to await in the final. Cibulkova has come out on top in three of their four career meetings, most recently in a one-sided Australian Open quarterfinal in 2014.
“Her game is fast. She hits the balls. She is moving very well. Of course I think she really wants it tomorrow, to win. We are in the same position. Everyone will fight for it.
“But it’s a big challenge for me. Another match, another day, a different day as well, so we will see. I just want to stay focused like today and to do everything I have in my gameplan.”
Halep seals it with her fourth ace of the match. Outaced Stosur 4-1. 80% 1st serves, lost 7 pts on serve, 5/5 on BPs. Fantastic performance.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 6 May 2016
Simona Halep takes on Samantha Stosur in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MADRID, Spain – Dominika Cibulkova marked her 27th birthday with a brilliant display against qualifier Louisa Chirico in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!
Midday showers in the Spanish capital forced the roof to be shut on Manolo Santana and Cibulkova found the change much to her liking. While Chirico was getting used the unfamiliar conditions, Cibulkova was busy building a lead.
In Chirico’s first service game, the Slovak earned an immediate break point, which she converted when she skipped around to crack a fizzing forehand. She soon stretched her advantage to 5-0 and while the American belatedly got on the scoreboard, it was too little too late, Cibulkova closing out the set with a delicate drop shot.
The second set was a similar story, Cibulkova embroidering a heavy-duty baseline assault with some feathery touches around the net. As the on-court clock approached the hour mark she arrived at match point, rounding off the 6-1, 6-1 triumph by thumping a 24th winner past the helpless Chirico.
Considering the one-sided nature of the encounter, Cibulkova was surprisingly emotional as she saluted her camp: “Of course I’m always more emotional when I win. Even during the match. So it’s part of me. But I was really, really happy, because today’s match was not easy. I made it look easy.
“But I was playing just really well. I was dominating on the court and I was mentally very strong.”
This strength has been on full display this week, the former Australian Open finalist coming through a series of grueling encounters.
“I started today’s match in the best way – I was really aggressive,” she added. “I know what I want to play and I was just going for it. I didn’t wait what’s going to happen on the court.
“I really know the beginning will be really important because she’s new in this situation, so I want to take advantage of it, to be ready for it. That’s what I did perfectly. You know, even I had some chances today, I was just really, really solid. I had my plan and I was really doing what I had to do.”
Cibulkova has never previously reached the final of a Premier Mandatory event, and there she will face either Simona Halep or Samantha Stosur.
“We’ll see. This is the best way. I know I’m in the finals and the opponent is going to play so I can watch them a little bit. Either way I don’t like to choose opponent. It’s going to be whoever plays better tonight.
“I’m just ready. I’m playing good tennis and I want to keep going and playing this way. Doesn’t matter who’s on the other side.”
.@Cibulkova gets an unexpected birthday present during her press conference… #MMOPEN https://t.co/YmmopMRNtG
— Mutua Madrid Open (@MutuaMadridOpen) 6 May 2016
An interview with Dominika Cibulkova after her win in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Courtney Nguyen, Point: Boy, did Simona Halep need this or what? The former World No.2 is into the final of the Mutua Madrid Open for the second time in three years after a solid week that has seen her lose just one set and play her most consistent, top-quality tennis of the year.
The last 17 months have been a time of transition for Halep, who made her breakout in 2013 and 2014 primarily based on her results on clay and grass. Then came an up and down 2015 season, where she crumbled under the pressure of replicating her success at the French Open and Wimbledon, but notched her best results on hardcourts. This year has seen her battle her body, racing the clock be fit and healthy enough not just to play tournaments but to put in the heavy training blocks she needed with coach Darren Cahill to find that confidence and consistency.
When I sat down with Halep before the tournament, it was clear there was an air of trepidation surrounding her game. After making back-to-back quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami, Halep endured a stressful week at Fed Cup and then was bundled out in her opening round in Stuttgart. It seems every time she got some momentum, a loss or injury or illness derailed things. Which is why she approached Madrid with caution.
Her goal this week was matches. Winning the title wasn’t even close to being on her mind. Not without a proper lead-up or any competitive indication that she was back to her best.
But with each win, Halep has regained her swagger. She lost just five games total in her first two matches, but it was her 6-2, 6-3 win over Timea Bacsinszky that may have quieted the demons. It was just a few weeks ago that Halep let a lead slip to Bacsinszky in the Miami Open quarterfinals. This week she got her clean revenge and her best win of the season. A win on Saturday would move her back to No.5.
“I’m more relaxed,” Halep said. “I think this is the key, and that’s why I repeat and say always, because this makes me more confident. It’s easier for me to play my game if I am relaxed.”
Setting aside her odd bagel set at the ends of her countrywoman Irina Camelia Begu – Halep said Begu’s player’s box was constantly coaching and their vocality got under her skin – Halep hasn’t come close to losing a set this week. Against Samantha Stosur in the semifinals, she withstood a barrage of forehands to run away with the match, taking the last 11 games to win 6-2, 6-0. Again, it wasn’t about the win itself. It was about the performance. And this was a near flawless one.
“I expect a tough one as well because is the final, and always the last match of the tournament is difficult,” Halep said. “But I have experience. I feel ready to play. She plays fast. She hits the balls.
“So, yeah, I know her pretty well. I beat her; she beat me. It’s an open match. Everyone can win. But I will do everything to win it. I really want it. It’s my dream to win here. We will see tomorrow.”
David Kane, Counterpoint: Dominika Cibulkova has made a career out of being one of the most dangerous floaters in tennis. A Top 10 player and former Grand Slam finalist in her own right, the Slovak will likely be best remembered as the woman no top seed wanted to encounter in the first week of a major tournament. So notorious is the 5’3″ powerhouse for causing big upsets that it was all but assumed that she would pull off the expectedly unexpected against Agnieszka Radwanska in Indian Wells and Garbiñe Muguruza in Miami. She would hold a match point against the former and lead the latter by a break in the final set, but left the Sunshine Swing without a win over either.
Sent back to the drawing board, Cibulkova opted to play one last hardcourt tournament before switching to clay, the surface on which she had her major breakthrough at the 2009 French Open.
“Katowice helped me quite a lot,” she said after her quarterfinal win over Sorana Cirstea. “Actually, I didn’t want to go there, but when I lost in the second round of Miami to Muguruza, I sat down with my coach and said, ‘I’m playing well; let’s just go there and play matches.'”
Playing five matches at the Katowice Open, Cibulkova won her first title in over two years, losing just one set en route. In good form heading into Madrid, she quickly earned another chance for the early round upset; weathering a second set hiccup, she got the job done against Radwanska in the first round.
“This year, I played so many matches and was getting good results on the International level, so I was waiting for this. I’m really happy it came here because in Indian Wells and Miami, I lost really close matches to Radwanska and Muguruza. I was waiting for the moment when it was going to turn around.”
Battling through a trio of tough matches to reach the semifinals, she passed what was perhaps her biggest test in the semifinals. Playing American qualifier Louisa Chirico, Cibulkova rose to the challenge of being the favorite and ended the underdog’s run in merciless fashion, dropping two games to reach her first career Premier Mandatory final.
“I was really, really happy, because today’s match was not easy,” she told press on Friday. “I made it look easy.
“I needed a win like this. When I came off the court my coach told me, ‘Oh, this reminds me of your matches of Australian Open when you went to the finals.'”
Underdog to start the event, favorite by the semifinals, she heads into the championship match as a little of both against Simona Halep – the 2014 runner-up but a player whom Cibulkova has beaten in three of their four previous encounters. Should she continue to handle the pressure, she could well end up turning her career narrative on its head, and go from chasing the pack to leading it.
Hear more thoughts on the Mutua Madrid final in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
An interview with Simona Halep after her win in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
MADRID, Spain – Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic extended their perfect start to the clay court season with victory over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.
Arriving in the Spanish capital brimming with confidence after back-to-back titles in Charleston and Stuttgart, Garcia and Mladenovic have looked untouchable. After cruising through the rounds, the No.5 seeds put down a marker with their showing against former French Open champions Makarova and Vesnina, wrapping up a 6-2, 6-3 victory in little over an hour.
“It was a tough match and we fought really well,” Mladenovic said. “We’re on a great run but whoever we face in the final won’t be easy, so we’ll play our own game regardless. Clay is being great to us this season and me and Caroline are really playing great as a pair.”
A shot at Olympic glory prompted the union between Garcia and Mladenovic, who had previously been in successful partnerships with Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos, respectively. And while the Frenchwomen took a few tournaments to fully gel, they have now well and truly found their feet on the terre battue.
Victory over Makarova and Vesnina extends their unbeaten streak to 12 matches and sets up a rematch against the world’s leading pair: Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
The teams met a fortnight ago in the Stuttgart final, Garcia and Mladenovic overcoming a disastrous start to pinch it on a match tie-break. Hingis and Mirza secured their final berth thanks to an even more impressive showing, dismantling Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2, 6-0, in 51 minutes.
“It’s obviously awesome – our second consecutive final of the clay court season. I don’t think either of us had ever made it to the final in Madrid before, so it’s a good feeling to already be doing better than last year and we’re looking forward to playing Garcia and Mladenovic again,” Hingis said.
Despite their dominance atop the rankings, Hingis insists they are the underdogs going into the final: “They are definitely the team to beat on clay, so if we want to be competitive at the French Open we know we’ll have to test ourselves against them.”
.@NickKyrgios and @keinishikori on their way to the court bump into @mhingis and @MirzaSania!!!! ? ? #MMOPEN https://t.co/IiAIpR2HvC
— Mutua Madrid Open (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 6, 2016
A group of young Madrid fans got the chance to practice with their favorite WTA stars at the Caja Magica, including Christina McHale and doubles duo Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
ROME, Italy – World No.1 Serena Williams will have to run the gauntlet if she is to recapture the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, after Friday’s draw placed her in the same section as several title rivals.
After her last-minute withdrawal from Madrid because of flu, Williams will begin her clay court campaign at the Foro Italico, a venue that holds many fond memories; three times the American has been crowned champion in the Eternal City (2002, 2013 and 2014), and on the first two occasions she followed it up with French Open glory.
As one of the top eight seeds, Williams receives a first-round bye, before taking on either Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or Anna-Lena Friedsam in her clay court opener. Should she clear this opening hurdle, Williams is projected to meet Ana Ivanovic in the third round, Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, then Victoria Azarenka in the last four.
No.4 seed Azarenka is still nursing the back injury that forced her out of Madrid and will begin with the winner of Margarita Gasparyan and Irina-Camelia Begu. Also keeping her company in arguably the most open section of the draw are Roberta Vinci, Karolina Pliskova and Lucie Safarova.
Like Williams, No.2 seed Angelique Kerber has been placed in a tricky quarter. Awaiting her in the second round will be either Jelena Jankovic or Eugenie Bouchard, before a likely third-round date with one of the WTA’s finest clay courters, Sara Errani. Should she negotiate the treacherous path to the last eight, Petra Kvitova or Venus Williams could lie in wait.
Looking to bounce back from her Madrid disappointment, No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza will need to watch out for another banana skin; Ekaterina Makarova, Kristina Mladenovic and Elina Svitolina are all capable of scuppering her all-Spanish quarterfinal against Carla Suárez Navarro in the quarterfinals.
Click here to see the draw in full.
Notable 1Rs @InteBNLdItalia:
Keys-Petkovic (winner plays Kvitova)
Pliskova-Kasatkina
Venus-Vandeweghe
Jankovic-Bouchard
Gavrilova-Lisicki— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 6 May 2016