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Cibulkova holds her nerve to land coveted semi-final spot

SINGAPORE — Down on a bended knee, the newly-married Dominika Cibulkova turned towards her husband Miso Navara and unleashed a scream of joy as her opponent’s shot went awry, giving the 27-year-old her first match win yesterday at the WTA Finals Singapore.

Cibulkova was named the WTA’s Comeback Player of the Year after a season that saw her climbing from world No 66 to a career-high of No 8. Photo: WTA

Cibulkova was named the WTA’s Comeback Player of the Year after a season that saw her climbing from world No 66 to a career-high of No 8. Photo: WTA

SINGAPORE — Down on a bended knee, the newly-married Dominika Cibulkova turned towards her husband Miso Navara and unleashed a scream of joy as her opponent’s shot went awry, giving the 27-year-old her first match win yesterday at the WTA Finals Singapore.

With Navara and her parents cheering her on courtside, Cibulkova certainly needed all the support she could get against crowd favourite Simona Halep as both women delivered a thriller on court in the tussle for the coveted semi-final spot.

Needing a straight-sets win to stay in the hunt after two losses in the Red Group, the gutsy Slovak got off to a sizzling start against Halep, powering past the Romanian to clinch a 6-3 victory.

As an increasingly frustrated Halep struggled with a knee problem, Cibulkova looked ready to claim the set and match, but the world No 8 player found herself in hot water as Halep clawed back to level matters at 6-6.

However, Cibulkova — who was named the WTA’s Comeback Player of the Year after a season that saw her climbing from world No 66 to a career-high of No 8 — held her nerve to win the tie-break, and set, 7-6 (7-5) and send Halep (No 4) packing from the season finale.

And Cibulkova had world No 1 Angelique Kerber to thank later, as the German’s straight-sets win (6-6, 6-3) over Madison Keys presented her with her first semi-final berth on her debut at the US$7 million (S$9.76 million) tournament.

“This win is really, really big for me,” said Cibulkova. “I’m really, really happy about my win, about the way I played and the way I handled the situation and the pressure.

“It seems like I’m playing my best tennis under biggest pressure. I just gave everything into this match today. I knew it could be possibly the last. All the circumstances made me play really well today.”

Despite the disappointment of missing out on the semi-finals for a second year running, Halep is looking forward to her off-season break back home.

“It’s very tough. It’s disappointing. It’s life. I have to take it,” she said.

“I came here, I gave everything I had. That’s what I could do this tournament, and I will look forward for the next year.”

Kerber will also join Cibulkova in the semi-finals after finishing top of the group. The 28-year-old has been in sizzling form here in Singapore, winning all three round-robin matches against Cibulkova, Halep and Keys.

Tomorrow’s schedule

1.30pm: Chan Hao-Ching/Chan Yung-Jan (Tpe) v Martina Hingis (Sui)/Sania Mirza (Ind)(2)

Not before 4pm: Garbine Muguruza (Esp) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus)

Not before 7.30pm: Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) v Karolina Pliskova (Cze)

Followed by: Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (Cze) v Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina (Rus)(4)

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