Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco

Women’s Final: [CR24] Sloane Stephens (USA) vs. [CR66] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)

Stephens was looking for her second title of the year, while Cibulkova was looking for her first title since 2014, which happened to be at this very tournament.  Their head-to-head was tied at 1:1, so this match was important for both.  For Cibulkova, it would be a testament of how far she had come after Achilles tendon surgery derailed her for the first half of 2015. Cibulkova is very strong mentally and she has to be given her short stature and lack of big weapons.  Stephens on the other hand is fighting her way through some issues and mental strength is not her forte at the moment. How would Stephens react to the tenacity of Cibulkova?  How would Cibulkova respond to the firepower from Stephens? Stephens held it together, although there were a few rocky moments, she played some quality tennis and showed us her improved mental ability as she escaped with the hard fought three set victory 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5).  She had the weapons and Cibulkova’s serve was a liability that Stephens could attack. Cibulkova tried her best, but will power alone could not win her the match, especially when her opponent has as many weapons as Stephens.  Stephens threw everything she had into this match and won simply because she wore Cibulkova down with her phenomenal retrieving skills. This was truly an awesome match; it’s unfortunate that someone had to lose.