Montreal Rogers Cup photo diary: Cibulkova makes final

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 14:30

Unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova is one match away from the giant killing run of the season after reaching the WTA Rogers Cup final in Montreal.

See what our man in Montreal made of the semi-final action at the Rogers Cup

Cibulkova, who upset world No.2 Jelena Jankovic earlier in the tournament, beat No.10 seed Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-4 6-3 in a rain-hit semi-final. She will face Dinara Safina in the final, after the Russian beat Victoria Azarenka 6-0 2-6 6-3.

Besides shocking Jankovic, Cibulkova beat world No.6 Elena Dementieva and No.12 seed Nadia Petrova en route to the semis.

The Slovakian will be bidding for her first WTA title, and had a rollercoaster day after her semi-final was hit by two rain delays. In all, the match took over seven hours to complete.

“I’m so excited about this, about my game, that I’m in the final” – Dominika Cibulkova

After taking the first set 6-4 and leading 2-1 in the second when rain swept across Montreal, Bartoli reportedly took a nap during one delay and never appeared fully awake when the match resumed as the 19-year-old took the next two sets.

“It really helped me that it started to rain because I went to the locker room and I talked to my coach. It wasn’t easy to talk to him because he was really mad,” said Cibulkova.

“Winning my first title is really very far yet. It’s still one match. You know, I’m so excited about this, about my game, that I’m in the final of a Tier 1 event for my first time.”

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