By Erik Gudris | Saturday, May 7, 2016
Simona Halep survived a wild week in Madrid before defeating Dominika Cibulkova to claim her first title of the season.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Simona Halep restored order to an unpredictable Madrid Open women’s event by finishing as its champion with a straight sets win over unseeded Dominika Cibulkova.
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“I’m really happy that I could win this trophy. It’s really special for me. It’s a special moment for me,” Halep told the Madrid crowd. “You are amazing and you came everyday. Also to the Romanians I want to thank you."
The No. 6 seed Halep survived a wild week that saw top seeds fall early in the event. That included top seed Agnieszka Radwanska who lost in the opening round to Cibulkova. The former Australian Open finalist used that win to propel herself into Saturday’s final, her third of the year.
Though Cibulkova enjoyed a 3-1 head to head against the Romanian, it was Halep who took charge early. Halep, with strong hitting, broke Cibulkova in the opening game. Halep, thanks to a slew of unforced errors from Cibulkova, soon opened up a 4-1 lead.
Serving for the set later at 5-2, Halep fell behind 0-40. But once again good serving from the Romanian helped her battle back in the game. She soon took the set outright 6-2.
Halep stormed out again in the second set by securing yet another service break over Cibulkova. Yet, the Slovakian proved she wasn’t ready to give away the match.
The key game came with Halep leading 2-1. With Cibulkova starting to go for her shots more, the rallies between both players grew more intense. Cibulkova, holding a break point, just missed what would have been a forehand down the line winner.
Eventually, Halep held for 3-1 after Cibulkova while up at net chose not to hit a Halep passing shot that fell in the court.
More strong serving from Halep down the stretch allowed her to maintain her lead. With time running out, it was up to Cibulkova to try and break Halep who served for it at 5-4.
Cibulkova overhit a return that gave Halep two match points. With a potent ace down the tee, Halep secured the convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory.
The key stat proved to be Halep hitting just 10 unforced errors compared to 23 from Cibulkova.
Despite the loss, Cibulkova is now projected to return to the top 30 and be seeded for Roland Garros.
Madrid is now Halep’s first title this season and her 12th overall. Famed Romanian Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci presented Halep the winner’s trophy.