By Adrianna Outlaw | Friday, September 25, 2015
Dominika Cibulkova defeated defending champion Ana Ivanovic, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to set up a Tokyo semifinal versus Agnieszka Radwanska.
Photo credit: Toray Pan Pacific Open
Dominika Cibulkova calls her aggressive baseline style "energy tennis."
An energized Cibulkova pulled the plug on Ana Ivanovic's Tokyo winning streak today.
Cibulkova broke serve six times defeating the defending champion 7-6 (5), 6-3 to reach the Tokyo semifinals for the first time.
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The second-seeded Serbian was bidding to become the first woman to successfully defend the Toray Pan Pacific Open title since Lindsay Davenport in 2003-2004.
Targeting Ivanovic's weaker two-handed backhand wing, Cibulkova took charge of key exchanges. Cibulkova won just four of 21 points played on her second serve, but attacked her opponent's second serve with vigor.
It is Cibulkova's second straight win over the former world No. 1, following her 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 triumph at the US Open last month.
'I had a lot of chances, I just couldn't convert the points today,'' Ivanovic said. ''I felt in both matches she was reading my serve really well, and it was very hard at times to know where to serve, so that's something I'll definitely have to improve on the next time we play.''
The 47th-ranked Slovak raised her record to 5-3 vs. Top 20 opponents this season in reaching her first semifinal of 2015.
"I did everything perfect today; I'm very happy," Cibulkova said. "I'm playing energy tennis. I put a lot of energy into it."
The only unseeded player to reach the final four, Cibulkova will play Agnieszka Radwanska for a spot in the final. Radwanska lost serve only once defusing fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, 7-5, 6-2. Radwanska has not dropped a set in four career meetings with Pliskova.
The seventh-seeded Radwanska has won five of eight meetings with Cibulkova, including a straight-sets win in Tokyo two years ago. But Cibulkova has won their last two matches and has not permitted a set this week in wins over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Carla Suarez Navarro and Ivanovic.
Radwanska, who won the Tokyo title in 2011, is playing for her third trip to the Pan Pacific Open final. She was runner-up to Nadia Petrova in 2012.
Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki fought past Angelique Kerber, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, to set up a semifinal against Belinda Bencic. The eighth-seeded Swiss stopped third-seeded Garbine Muguruza, 7-6 (1), 6-1.
Toronto champion Bencic has beaten Wozniacki in all three of their meetings in 2015. She has won three of four career matches with the former No. 1.
"Caroline and I always have a lot of long rallies against each other, and she never gives you a point for free, so it's always very difficult playing against her," Bencic said. "I'm very happy I could win against her this season, but every match is very tough against her."
Wozniacki, who won Tokyo in 2010 and lost to Ivanovic in last year's final, is expecting a battle against Bencic.
"I'm just going to go out there and play the game that I want to play," Wozniacki said. "If I play well then she has to play really well to beat me. New match, new tournament —we'll see what happens."