BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore

Women’s Final: [1] Angelique Kerber (GER) vs. [8] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)

They were tied at 4:4 going into this tournament.  In the first round, Kerber got the better of Cibulkova.  Interestingly, Cibulkova won only one round robin match and barely squeaked into the semifinals to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova.  Did anyone except Cibulkova and her team expect her to defeat Kerber in the final?  Probably not many; however, given Kerber’s record in finals, many observant fans may have given Cibulkova a slight chance of upsetting the world’s number female player. You can never tell with Kerber though, her demeanor remains the same, winning or losing and today was no different. Outside of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, the WTA Finals title is the next biggest tournament a player can win on the WTA Tour.  It is perhaps more impressive to win it because of the caliber of opponents the eventual champion has to defeat to gain the title.

Given her stature, Cibulkova has learned how to get the most out of her game.  It helps that she is such an enthusiastic fighter who runs down every ball.  I have often watched her amazed at how much pace she can generate and how aggressive is her style of play for someone so petite.  Today that is exactly what she did; she completely erased the thought of losing earlier in this tournament to Kerber and came out fully focused on her objective.  She was brilliant, she stayed calm and her new-found confidence was evident in her every shot.  She believed that she should win every point and even when she did not, she was not discouraged. It paid off in the end when she won 6-3, 6-4 to gain the biggest title of her career.  In the elite field of eight, she came out on top.

Congratulations to Dominika Cibulkova, that final game said it all, you never gave up.

SOURCE OF IMAGE: Creative Commons