Elliot Cornish

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Wats-Up! @HeatherWatson92 Shocks Defending Champ Domi @AegonTennisEB

Posted by Admin on June 26, 2017
Posted in: ATP, Eastbourne, Wimbledon, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Heather Watson shocks defending Eastbourne International champion Dominika Cibulkova
Elliot Cornish in Eastbourne

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A determined Heather Watson roused a raucous home crowd to knock out defending Eastbourne International champion Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 6-4 in the second round on Monday afternoon.

There were also victories for last year’s runner-up Karolina Pliskova, who won in straight sets over Alison Riske, and for French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who fought past Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets on Court 1 on a toasty day on the south coast of England. But there was disappointment for 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, who fell to Barbora Strycova in three, and for Britain’s Naomi Broady, who also lost in a decider against Kristyna Pliskova.

In the first round of the men’s ATP 250 draw, 21-year-old Cameron Norrie chalked up his first ATP main draw win 6-4 7-6 over Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos to fix up a second round encounter with French second seed Gael Monfils. However, Kyle Edmund’s Wimbledon preparations hit another snag with a three-set defeat to Donald Young to go with his loss at Queen’s Club last week to Denis Shapovalov. Meanwhile, Vasek Pospisil’s reward for his 6-3 6-4 trouncing of Jiri Vesely is a Tuesday morning match with Novak Djokovic.

Watson wows in Eastbourne sun

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Showing no signs of weariness from her three-hour battle with Lesia Tsurenko a day earlier, Watson made early headway – breaking the Slovak twice – only to be pegged back both times. Controversy struck deep in the first set when Cibulkova correctly challenged an out call, only to be awarded a first serve instead of the point. A fruitless exchange with the umpire merely drew ire from an already partisan crowd, but Cibulkova kept her nerve to dig out a hold for 5-5.

However, Watson’s pressure eventually tolled, as she snared the opening set at the first opportunity with a third break of the Cibulkova serve – this time to love. Watson would only grow in the contest from thereon, regularly out-rallying her opponent as she opened a 5-2 lead in the second. But a big win was never likely to be without some drama, and after Cibulkova saved match point to hold, the Brit relinquished a 40-15 advantage on serve as the world number nine rolled off four points to break back. But once again, Cibulkova undid her good work, surrendering her serve for a fifth time as Watson wrapped up the win on her fourth match point.
After the match, Watson, who has slipped to 126 in the WTA rankings from a high of 38, said, “The atmosphere was incredible, I was getting goosebumps at the end. I got a little nervous but I’m pleased I got through it in that last game.

“She’s a hard worker and a fighter so I knew it was never going to be easy. She’s very aggressive but I’m OK with that. I have some wheels so I’ve got to use them.”
Playing her first match since losing to Simona Halep in the French Open semi-final, Karolina Pliskova looked solid throughout in her 6-4 6-3 dispatching of American Alison Riske. Typically, it was the Czech’s serve which proved the foundation for her win, and the two break points which she faced and saved in the opening game of the match was the only time Riske threatened.

Watson will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round three after the Russian overturned a one-set deficit to down Elise Mertens, while Pliskova’s last 16 test will come in the form of Timea Bacsinszky or Peng Shuai.

On her first outing since storming to the Roland Garros title, Ostapenko was up and down. Suarez Navarro was powerless in the opener as the Latvian’s penetrating groundstrokes told, but the Spaniard raced through the second, dishing out a bagel as Ostapenko faltered. But the latter showed the necessarily steel in set three to notch a 6-3 0-6 6-4 triumph and a potential third-round encounter with local star Johanna Konta.

Sorana Cirstea capitalised on her lucky loser berth with a comfortable win over Katerina Siniakova and will be Konta’s round two opponent. Naomi Osaka rattled past Risa Ozaki 6-0 6-1 in an all-Japanese clash and will play sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.

Australia’s Bernard Tomic saw off Norbert Gombos 7-6 6-3, while Jared Donaldson scraped past Diego Schwartzman 7-5 in the third to book a round two match with compatriot Donald Young.

More Women’s Singles results
Veronica Cepede Royg defeated Su-Wei Hsieh 4-6 6-3 6-3
Peng Shuai defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-4
Zhang Shuai defeated Varvara Lepchenko 6-2 6-1
Lara Arruabarrena defeated Daria Gavrilova 6-2 2-6 6-3
Lauren Davis defeated Kristina Kucova 6-4 6-2
More Men’s Singles results
Robin Haase defeated Nicolas Mahut 6-4 7-6
Kyle Anderson defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3 6-1

Djokovic to enter the fray on Tuesday
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Top seed and surprise wildcard Novak Djokovic starts his tournament at 11am on Tuesday morning on Centre Court against Vasek Pospisil. In Monday’s press conference, Djokovic confirmed that new coach Andre Agassi would not be in attendance this week, but would be present with the Serb at Wimbledon.
Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep will also open their Eastbourne campaigns on Tuesday against Kristyna Pliskova and Duan Yingying respectively. Depending on results, Halep could theoretically overtake Kerber and become world number one for the first time.

Kerber will be in action second on Centre, while Halep is first on Court 1. In the other Centre Court matches Cirstea takes on Konta before Young dukes it out with Donaldson.

Big serving Sam Querrey is second on Court 1 against Daniil Medvedev before grass specialist Richard Gasquet plays the talented Frances Tiafoe.

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Fiery @Cibulkova Downs Pliskova To Win Eastbourne

Posted by Admin on June 26, 2016
Posted in: Eastbourne, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Fiery Cibulkova Downs Pliskova To Win Eastbourne
Elliot Cornish for Tennis Atlantic

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Dominika Cibulkova won her first grass court title with victory over Karolina Pliskova in the final of the Aegon International in Eastbourne.

The Slovak prevailed 7-5 6-3 in the entertaining encounter to claim her second title of the season and the sixth of her career. For Pliskova, the result marked her ninth defeat in 14 WTA finals, and the sixth loss in her last eight.

Cibulkova was broken immediately on a windy day in the south east, but was not punished after her Czech opponent double-faulted three times in her opening service game. The 12th seed then continued to make headway with Pliskova unable to find her range, moving 3-1 clear.

However, it was then Cibulkova’s turn to slip up. Three lost games in a row – two on serve – handed the initiative back to Pliskova, who proceeded to donate it back again after being broken herself in the eighth game.

It was, in many ways, a typical topsy-turvy set in the WTA, with neither seeming too keen to win it at times. But an errant game from Pliskova when serving to take it to a tie-break proved very costly. A backhand into the net and a forehand long handed Cibulkova a 0-30 lead, and the set was hers when Pliskova dragged a backhand wide.

A fired up Cibulkova, whose intensity on court has become a hallmark of her game, refused to let up in the second set, securing an early break of serve in the second set – thanks to a stunning pass – as her groundstrokes became increasingly potent from both the forehand and backhand.

While Pliskova turned on the style in bursts, a noted lack of consistency thwarted the Czech’s hope of serious threateningly Cibulkova. The seventh game of the second set offered her the best chance of finding a foothold, but an inability to capitalise on any of the four break points she carved out would haunt her. Knowing the importance of averting the danger, Cibulkova let out a giant roar when getting the hold to go 5-2 up.

If there was any finishing line fever, the former Australian Open runner-up showed few signs of it. She immediately raced 40-0 clear, and became triumphant when Pliskova pulled a backhand wide on Cibulkova’s third match point.

Speaking to BBC Sport afterwards, an ecstatic Cibulkova commented, “This is my best week on grass. I was playing really well. The conditions were very hard.

“I said when I arrived that Martina Navratilova has won it 11 times – it would be good to win it once.”

Pliskova’s serve, such a key facet of her game, was not as much of a weapon against Cibulkova as it was in her semi-final versus Johanna Konta. Just four aces – two in each set – were dealt from the Czech’s racket, as her adversary managed to formulate rallies and dictate the play, and exploit Pliskova’s inferior movement.

The windy conditions also favoured Cibulkova, whose compact style was always going to be less affected than Pliskova’s more languid approach.

The win moves Cibulkova up to 18th in the WTA rankings, and Wimbledon’s 19th seed will begin her SW19 quest against Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Pliskova, meanwhile, can still be happy with another successful week on the grass, as she maintained her ranking at 17. Yanina Wickmayer awaits in the first round of Wimbledon.

But Eastbourne belonged to Dominika Cibulkova, thanks to successes over Jelena Ostapenko, Kateryna Bondarenko, Agniezska Radwanska, Monica Puig and Pliskova. The pocket rocket of women’s tennis is enjoying a fruitful year and now lies 7th in the WTA race.

Her forceful, aggressive mantra is suited well to tennis’ quickest surface, and with Radwanska in her section of the Wimbledon draw, there’s no reason why the 27-year-old can’t have a deep run over the next fortnight.

Doubles

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The Croatian-Australian pairing of Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova overcame the Chinese Taipei duo of Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan in three sets.

The unseeded Jurak/Rodionova dropped the first set 7-5 but won the second 7-6 in a close encounter. They then wrapped up the title courtesy of a 10-6 win in the super tie-breaker. It was the pair’s first triumph together as pairing, Jurak’s third overall and Rodionova’s 10th.