Sloane
Stephens 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) Dominika Cibulkova (Acapulco Final)
This match
was Stephens’ 2nd final of the year, having previously winning the
title in Auckland earlier in January. Stephens is unbeaten in finals, having
won all 2 of her finals in her career. Cibulkova, who is ranked 66th,
was a member of the Top 10 and have reached the Australian Open final in 2014
before suffering from an Achilles injury that kept her out of action for close
to half a year.
Stephens
had the best possible start to the match, breaking Cibulkova’s serve
immediately, going straight onto the offence as soon as the first ball was
struck. She held her first service game comfortably with some strong serves to
prevent Cibulkova from playing her normal offensive game. Stephens almost had a
double break lead, but Cibulkova managed to hold her service in a very tough
15-point game, having to go against Stephens’ strong returns. Not finding her
first service, Stephens got broken back at 1-2, after Cibulkova took advantage
and went attacking on her second serves. There were another exchange of breaks
that followed, with both players hitting good returns. Some solid and
consistent groundstrokes by Stephens then allowed her to break for the third
time to once again take the lead in the set. There were no more breaks of serve
that followed, and Stephens closed out the first set 6-4 with her 1st
ace of the match after 49 minutes of terrific tennis played by both.
After an
exchange of service holds at the start of the second set, Stephens once again
drew first blood by breaking Cibulkova’s serve yet again to lead by a set and a
break to look on course for her 2nd title of the year. Stephens then
successfully consolidated the break by holding her serve comfortably with some
excellent shot placements. Cibulkova’s merciless forehands proved to be too
strong for Stephens when she managed to hold her serve and break back to stay
in the hunt for the title. At 3-3, Stephens looked to break and take the lead
once again, but Cibulkova saved 2 break points by winning 4 consecutive points
from 15-40 down to hold for 4-3. Both players held their service games until
5-4, when Stephens was serving to stay in the set. Stephens failed to find her
first serves at the crucial moment, and that allowed Cibulkova to be on the
offense straight from the first shot. The 1st serves proved crucial
as Stephens was forced to stay behind the baseline after Cibulkova was
controlling the rallies, and she was broken to gift the 2nd set to
Cibulkova despite leading by a set and a break previously.
Both
players held their service games comfortably at the start of the final set,
until the 5th game where Stephens was once again the one to draw
first blood as she successfully broke Cibulkova’s serve with her strong returns
and good shot placements. Cibulkova showed the audience why she was previously
ranked in the Top 10 by breaking back immediately, despite the momentum being
with Stephens, who failed to find her first serves at crucial moments again.
Stephens managed to regain her composure and go up 0-40 on Cibulkova’s service
game. Nevertheless, Cibulkova once again showed why she was ranked in the Top
10 by coming back to hold her service. Stephens was in deep trouble in her next
service game, after Cibulkova had break point opportunities. Stephens regained
her composure, and calmed herself down to hold her service in a very tough
19-point game. There were no more breaks of serve in the match, with Stephens
missing her break point opportunities at 5-5 which would see her serving for
the match had she won them. Stephens dominated the tiebreak early on, coming
from 2-1 down to lead 5-2 in the tiebreak, making her just 2 points away from
her 2nd title this year. Stephens earned her first match point
opportunities at 6-3, but Cibulkova almost came to within a point from
levelling the scores at 6-5 after winning both of Stephens’ service points. At
6-5, Cibulkova was controlling the rally early on, but hit an unforced error to
hand the match and title to Stephens after 3 hours and 5 minutes of exhausting
tennis, with the last set alone lasting for 1 hours and 27 minutes.
Stephens
|
Cibulkova
|
|
Aces
|
3
|
0
|
DFs
|
3
|
6
|
1st Serve
|
70%
|
72%
|
1st Serve Won
|
63%
|
56%
|
2nd Serve Won
|
52%
|
68%
|
Break Points
|
5/18 (28%)
|
5/11 (45%)
|
Points Won
|
116
|
112
|