Kremlin Cup, Moscow

[CR33] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) vs.  [CR111] Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Cibulkova and Vesnina are trying to recover their form following injury, specifically left leg surgery and right shoulder injury respectively.  It showed, as both players struggled to keep the ball in play, Vesnina more so than Cibulkova.  Yet, Vesnina had opportunities to win the first set and actually served for it, only to have her game completely fall apart. Despite an almost 11 minute battle as she fought to hold on to serve to win the first set, she came up short as her serve repeatedly let her down.  As the serve went, so did her ground strokes and she made error after error to lose that game, the set and essentially the match. That was the turning point of the match.

It was too much of a psychological blow and her disappointment at losing the first set flowed into the second set. Vesnina lost her focus and Cibulkova, always on the alert for opportunities, took advantage and reeled off two quick breaks to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Cibulkova barely gave her any opportunities to claw her way back into the match and the few chances she had in the second,  she was unable to capitalize. In the end, it was a sudden end to the match after the close contest in the first set.  Vesnina was broken on her last service game to lose the match 5-7, 1-6.  With the victory, Cibulkova ties their head-to-head 3:3 and moves into the second round to face Carla Suarez-Navarro. Cibulkova will take comfort in the knowledge that she leads that head-to-head 3:0.  After a rather promising start to the season, Suarez Navarro has been off her game since June; however, I expect her to fight to change those statistics.