Under the roof of the Optics Valley International Tennis Centre, Petra Kvitova and Dominika Cibulkova both booked their places in the final to set up a Saturday showdown at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in entirely different fashion.
Inspired Cibulkova Digs Deep to Reach Fifth Final of 2016
First up on another rainy day in the River City was tenth seed Dominika Cibulkova, who was coming in off another taxing day at the office, was set to play her third match in a span of 27 hours due to inclement weather against ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose victories over defending champion Venus Williams and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska earned her a place in the final four.
Having not met in more than half a decade, both players took some time to settle in before it was Kuznetsova who drew first blood with some stunning returning, three games into the contest, an advantage the two-time Grand Slam champion simply refused to relinquish for the remainder of the opening set. Despite the constant persistence of Cibulkova, the Russian was not content with a single break of serve, fighting through a tense ninth game before a double fault of major consequences from the Slovak handed the ninth seed the opening set on a silver platter, 6-3.
After trading breaks early to begin the second set, Cibulkova began to find a hole in the Kuznetsova defence, and promptly exploited it to clinch an ultimately decisive break of serve in the fifth game before reeling off four of the last five games, including a second break clinched at the third time of asking, sealed the set for the tenth seed.
With one set left to decide the first finalist, every game, every point was crucial. But somehow, it was Cibulkova who was able to summon her best tennis when it mattered most, hitting a series of spectacular winners at 4-4, 15-30 down to edge her nose back in front. That spontaneous streak seemed to take the wind out of Kuznetsova’s sails as she soon found herself staring down three match points soon thereafter.
In the end, the former Australian Open finalist proved she only needed the one, crushing an inviting second serve return to book her place in her fifth final of 2016 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kuznetsova.
Not only does this victory put Cibulkova in her first Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final, but she is also set to make her official return to the top 10. Regardless of the result in the final, Cibulkova is projected to move to a career-high ranking of number eight in the world next Monday, but a victory will allow her to go one better.
“It feels great. I’m really tired right now, but the feeling to be in the final is unbelievable, and that’s why I love it,” Cibulkova said. “It’s just a great win for me today.”
“I’m really looking forward to another final and I want to keep going, keep playing like this,” she added.
Ruthless Kvitova Thumps Halep to Advance to Second Wuhan Final
In the second semifinal, 14th seed Petra Kvitova took on fourth seed Simona Halep in arguably the most highly-anticipated encounter of the day. Despite taking a set off the Romanian in two of their last three meetings, Kvitova had never previously beaten Halep, but she was looking to rewrite the script in Wuhan.
After two mightily impressive victories over 11th seed Johanna Konta and of course, world number one Angelique Kerber in recent days, Kvitova showed no signs of any fatigue early on as she jumped out to a 5-0 lead with some thunderous hitting, with Halep at a loss for answers. Though the Romanian was able to get on the board a game later, the Czech wasted no time in securing the opener, doing so at love with another massive serve out wide to clinch it, 6-1.
As Halep struggled to find any answers to an on-song Kvitova, the second set was nearly as one-sided and only an attempted and failed fightback from the world number five extended the contest past the hour mark. Saving a pair of break points in the final game with some wondrous first-strike tennis, a big serve was all that was required for the two-time Wimbledon champion to seal a crushing 6-1, 6-2 victory in just 67 minutes.
“It’s amazing. I came to this tournament and really didn’t expect this kind of performance,” Kvitova said. “Physically I’m still so-so—I’m really happy that I’m not falling apart. But I played a really great match today in spite of everything, which really put the pressure on her.”
Kvitova - Cibulkova: The Saturday Showdown
In what promises to be another battle dominated by first-strike tennis, Kvitova and Cibulkova will go head-to-head for a seventh time on Saturday afternoon, with the prestigious Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open title on the line.
In a match that will inevitably involve blow after blow from the back of the court, the Czech will be looking to cap off her best week of the season with her fifth top 20 win of the week, while the resilient Slovak will look to summon everything she has left in the tank after a gruelling last two days of competition in order to derail the Kvitova train and secure the biggest title of her career to date.