Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989)Dominika Cibulková: Mám pred sebou ešte dlhú cestu, SME Ženy ; in Slovak; Bez dresu s Dominikou Cibulkovou Videointerview in Slovak is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win the tournament on her debut. She won eight WTA Tour singles titles and two on the ITF Circuit.
Cibulková reached the quarterfinals or better of all four Grand Slam tournaments at least once. One of her most notable achievements was a final appearance at the 2014 Australian Open. Although she lost to Li Na, she was the first Slovak woman to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament.Inspired Cibulkova stuns Radwanska, WTA official website, 23 January 2014
Career Early years Early in her career, Cibulková predominantly competed on the ITF Women's Circuit, and managed to win two tournaments: the Amarante event in Portugal in 2005, and the Bratislava event in 2006.
2007: Major debut
She started the season with a win over Tara Iyer in the first round of the Bangalore Open, but lost to No. 4 seed Jelena Kostanić Tošić in the second round.
At the French Open, Cibulková qualified and made her Grand Slam main-draw debut, reaching the third round. In the second, she upset Martina Müller after beating Sun Tiantian but eventually lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. She also reached the third round in Amelia Island, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues but losing to fellow Slovak Daniela Hantuchová, and the quarterfinals of the ECM Prague Open, beating Gisela Dulko before falling to Victoria Azarenka.
Her best finish of the year came in September, when she exited at the semifinal stage at the Guangzhou International Open in China where she lost to eventual champion Virginie Razzano.
2008: First WTA Tour final
At the Australian Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to Flavia Pennetta. Playing for Slovakia in the first round of Fed Cup against the Czech Republic in Brno, she split her two singles matches as her country lost the tie 2–3.
At the Qatar Ladies Open, Cibulková reached her first-ever Tier-I quarterfinal, defeating former world No. 1, Venus Williams, in the third round, before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals. In April, Cibulková reached the final of a WTA Tour event for the first time. At the Tier-II clay-court Amelia Island Championships, she lost the final to Maria Sharapova. Cibulková was seeded 30th in singles at Wimbledon but lost in the first round to unseeded wildcard player and eventual semifinalist, Zheng Jie of China. She reached the third round of the women's singles at the 2008 Olympics. At the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Cibulková defeated second-seeded Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, but lost the final to seventh-seeded Dinara Safina.
2009: French Open semifinal
At the Australian Open, Cibulková advanced to the fourth round and lost to Elena Dementieva. She began the clay-court season at the MPS Group Championships and Family Circle Cup, losing to Elena Vesnina and Elena Dementieva respectively.
At the French Open, she was seeded 20th and defeated Alona Bondarenko, Kirsten Flipkens, Gisela Dulko, and Ágnes Szávay to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She then defeated Maria Sharapova in straight sets, but lost to Dinara Safina in the semifinal. In this successful phase of her career, she worked with tennis coach Vladimír Pláteník and fitness coach Maroš Molnár from Slovakia. Seeded 14th at Wimbledon, she beat Julie Coin and Urszula Radwańska, but lost to Elena Vesnina in the third round. She then competed at the Swedish Open where she lost to Gisela Dulko in the quarterfinals. She withdrew from the US Open and several of the following hard-court tournaments due to a rib injury.
2010: US Open quarterfinal
Cibulková started 2010 by reaching the quarterfinals of the Auckland Open where she lost to top seed Flavia Pennetta. At the Australian Open, where she was seeded 23rd, Cibulková was upset by Vania King in the first round.
At the Monterrey Open, she was the fourth seed. Cibulková came from a set down to beat No. 5 seed Ágnes Szávay in the quarterfinals. She fell to No. 2 seed, Daniela Hantuchová, in three sets. At the Indian Wells Open she was upset by Sara Errani in the second round, after receiving a bye.
She then played at the Rosmalen Open, losing her quarterfinal match to Kirsten Flipkens. At Wimbledon, where she upset Lucie Šafářová and Ayumi Morita, she lost in the third round to world No. 1, Serena Williams. At the US Open, Cibulková advanced to her second career major quarterfinal, after defeating Stefanie Vögele, 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko, Lourdes Domínguez Lino, and 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She lost to the top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.
2011: First title on WTA Tour
Cibulková began the year at the Brisbane International where she reached quarterfinals defeating Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. She lost her quarterfinal match to eventual champion Petra Kvitová, 0–6, 4–6. She then entered the Sydney International and defeated Maria Kirilenko in the first round, in two sets. In the second, she beat world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, in straight sets before she was defeated by Alisa Kleybanova in the quarterfinals. Seeded 29th at the Australian Open, Cibulková won her first two rounds against Angelique Kerber and Alberta Brianti. In the third round, she lost to top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, in straight sets.
In the Fed Cup tie versus the Czech Republic, Cibulková played one rubber in which she was upset by Petra Kvitová. The Czech Republic ended up defeating Slovakia 3–2. Seeded eighth at the Open GdF Suez, Cibulková advanced to the quarterfinals beating qualifier Ana Vrljić and Melanie Oudin losing there to third seed Kaia Kanepi. At Dubai, Cibulková lost in the first round to Jarmila Groth. At the Qatar Open, she was defeated in the second round by second seed and eventual champion, Vera Zvonareva 6–1, 6–2. Seeded 25th at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková got a first-round bye. She won her second- and third-round matches over wildcard Sania Mirza and third seed Vera Zvonareva but lost in round four to 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer. Seeded 25th at the Miami Open, Cibulková again got a first-round bye. She was defeated in the third round by eighth seed and eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.
In the World Group play-offs tie against Serbia, she won her first rubber against Bojana Jovanovski in three sets. She faced Ana Ivanovic in her final rubber and won the first set 6–4; it was tied 3–3 in the second set when Ivanovic retired due to an abdominal muscle problem. Her two wins were not enough as Serbia defeated Slovakia 3–2.
Cibulková began her clay-court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she lost in the first round to German wildcard Sabine Lisicki in two narrow sets.
At Wimbledon, Cibulková repeated the upset from Sydney by beating Wozniacki in three sets, losing in the quarterfinals to Maria Sharapova.
She won her first tour title at the Kremlin Cup, edging Kaia Kanepi in three sets. Her win represents the first time a player has captured their maiden title at the Kremlin Cup.
2012
Seeded 17th in the Australian Open, Cibulková lost her second-round match to Gréta Arn. At the Miami Open, she came close to beating then-world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, leading her by a set and 5–2 before Azarenka prevailed. Cibulková then reached the finals of the Barcelona Open, losing to Sara Errani. At the French Open, she avenged her Miami loss to Azarenka, beating the world No. 1 in straight sets in the fourth round. She subsequently reached the quarterfinals for the second time, but lost to Samantha Stosur.
Her only Wimbledon warm up tournament was the Rosmalen Championships. She reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Nadia Petrova. She lost in the first round at Wimbledon to Klára Zakopalová. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the women's singles and the women's doubles with Daniela Hantuchova, but lost in the first round of each.
She defeated Marion Bartoli in straight sets to win the Carlsbad Open in California, picking up the second title of her career. She reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Roberta Vinci.
2013
Cibulková began her 2013 season at the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to Sloane Stephens. After Brisbane, Cibulková competed at the Sydney International. She reached the final after wins over fifth seed Petra Kvitová, Ekaterina Makarova, third seed Sara Errani, and second seed Angelique Kerber. In the championship match, she was defeated by top seed Agnieszka Radwańska; she failed to win a single game during the match. Seeded 15th at the Australian Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to qualifier Valeria Savinykh.
Seeded fourth at the Paris Indoors, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by lucky loser Kiki Bertens. During the Fed Cup tie versus Serbia, Cibulková retired from her match against Vesna Dolonc due to a calf injury. Slovakia was still able to win the tie 3–2. At the Dubai Championships, Cibulková lost in the first round to Nadia Petrova. Seeded twelfth at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková was defeated in the third round by 19th seed Klára Zakopalová. Seeded 13th at the Miami Open, Cibulková advanced to the fourth round where she lost to top seed and eventual champion, Serena Williams. Playing in the semifinal Fed Cup tie versus Russia, Cibulková won her first match over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but lost her second match to Maria Kirilenko. Russia defeated Slovakia 3–2 to advance to the Fed Cup Final.
Cibulková started her clay-court season at the Portugal Open. Seeded second, she was defeated in the first round by Urszula Radwańska. Seeded 15th at the Madrid Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to Sabine Lisicki. Seeded 14th at the Italian Open, Cibulková was defeated in the third round by top seed and eventual champion, Serena Williams. Seeded third at the Brussels Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to eventual champion Kaia Kanepi. Seeded 16th at the French Open, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by Marina Erakovic.
Beginning her grass-court season as the second seed at the Rosmalen Championships, Cibulková reached the quarterfinal where she lost to qualifier Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded 18th at Wimbledon, Cibulková was defeated in the third round by 11th seed Roberta Vinci.
Cibulková kicked off her US Open Series at Stanford. Seeded third, she won her third WTA Tour singles title beating top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the final. Despite being the defending champion at the Southern California Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to seventh seed Ana Ivanovic. At the Canadian Open, Cibulková made it to the quarterfinal where she was defeated by fourth seed Li Na. In Ohio at the Cincinnati Open, Cibulková fell in the first round to qualifier Polona Hercog. Seeded eighth at the New Haven Open at Yale, Cibulková lost in the first round to Klára Zakopalová. Seeded 17th at the US Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Elina Svitolina.
Seeded sixteenth in Tokyo at the Pan Pacific Open, Cibulková lost in the third round to second seed Agnieszka Radwańska. At the China Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Madison Keys. Seeded seventh at the Generali Ladies Linz, Cibulková lost in her quarterfinal match to third seed, two-time champion, and eventual finalist, Ana Ivanovic. Cibulková played her final tournament of the season at the Kremlin Cup. Seeded ninth, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Vesna Dolonc.
Cibulková ended the year ranked 23.
2014: First major final and inconsistencies