Dominika Cibulkova managed to get past a tough and tricky opponent in Kirsten Flipkens, triumphing in straight sets after just 1 hour and 22 minutes. This win secured her a place in the fourth round of the Miami Open, setting up a meeting with Lucie Safarova.
Cibulkova strolls to win the first set
Cibulkova had the perfect start to the match as she came out firing from the first point onwards, producing several strong returns and therefore got what she deserved as she earned the first breakthrough of the match, taking the early lead. Flipkens’ early struggles continued as she was unable to go against the strong groundstrokes of Cibulkova with her slices, allowing the Slovakian to consolidate the break with a service hold to love in her opening service game. Flipkens finally won her first points of the match when she won her first game of the match by holding her serve and preventing herself from lagging further behind on the scoreboard.
Cibulkova then continued her excellent run by breaking serve once more in the fifth game, saving one break point in the process before capitalizing on her fourth break point in the game, taking a double break lead and looked poised to win the first set. A disappointing service game followed as Cibulkova threw away the next game after Flipkens broke straight back to love and lessened the deficit by playing her own best tennis. There was not much to celebrate for as the Belgian gave away her service game once more, allowing Cibulkova to regain a double break lead which gave her the golden opportunity to serve out the set. The world number four did just so, successfully serving out the set after just 38 minutes of play.
Cibulkova fends off tough challenge
Flipkens had an encouraging start to the second set as she carved a tough hold of service in the opening game despite Cibulkova getting to deuce and threatening to break serve. Going up 0-30 in the next game with hopes of getting the lead for the first time in the match, Flipkens wasted her chances as she allowed the Slovakian a way back into that game, with some world-class offensive tennis doing the work for the top four player.
Failure to convert her chances proved to be costly as the Belgian was immediately broken in the next game, with Cibulkova stepping up her game to take the early lead in the second set. She then consolidated the break with a comfortable service hold, extending her lead to two games. Play was forced to be suspended when the rain came interfering out of nowhere, with the scores at 2-3 as Flipkens had just held her serve.
It turned out to be a lengthy rain delay as it lasted for around three hours, with the sky already dark when the players returned to the court. Returning from the rain delay, Cibulkova had a slow start as she was immediately broken when play resumed, allowing Flipkens to return level on serve. However, her celebrations were short-lived as she failed to hold onto her service game with Cibulkova coming up with some clinical groundstrokes to regain the advantage.
Fending off two break points in the pivotal game of the second set, Cibulkova narrowly held her serve to place herself just one game away from the victory at 5-3, despite the fact that it would be 4-4 had Flipkens converted her break points. Just at the right time, the Slovakian stepped up her game and broke serve for the sixth time in the match, clinching the match after just 82 minutes.
