Cibulkova battles past Radwanska in Stanford
Dominka Cibulkova fought past top seed Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.
World No.4 Radwanska took the opening set courtesy of two breaks of serve but Cibulkova broke in the seventh game of the second set and the diminutive Slovak went onto level proceedings.
In the decider Radwanska led 4-2 with chances for 5-2 but the third seeded Cibulkova would not go away and fought back.
The Slovak No.1 reeled off three straight games and converted her fifth match point in the tenth game with a backhand winner. Victory for Cibulkova erases a painful 6-0, 6-0 loss the last time the pair met in the Sydney final
Stat Attack – Cibulkova
- Cibulkova had only once won a set in four previous meetings with Radwanska and had lost four of their nine sets played 6-0
- Both of the 24 year-old’s previous singles titles have come on hard courts at Moscow in 2011 and a year ago in Carlsbad
Stat Attack – Radwanska
- The Polish No.1 has won 12 of her 17 career singles finals, it was the first time she has lost a final having won the first set
Isner edges Anderson in tallest final
In the tallest final in ATP history 6‘10’’ John Isner saved two match points to get past 6’8’’ Kevin Anderson 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 7-6(2) and win the BB&T Atlanta Open.
No.2 seed Anderson snapped Isner’s winning streak of twelve straight tie-breaks to take the opening set before the American top seed levelled by decisively taken the second set tie-break.
Both men continued to dominate with serve in the decider before Isner fended off two match points in the twelfth game. The 28 year-old eased through the subsequent tie-break to clinch his seventh career title after two hours and 54 minutes.
Stat Attack – Isner
- The American had twice been a finalist in Atlanta falling to Mardy Fish 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in the 2010 final and again to Fish 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 a year later
- Isner has played 43 final set tie-breaks in his career winning 29 of them including the last eight
Stat Attack – Anderson
- The South African would have made his top 20 debut with a victory but still reaches a career high ranking of 21st this week
Robredo snaps Fognini streak in Umag
Tommy Robredo brought Fabio Fognini’s 13 match winning streak to an end with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over the Italian in the final of the Vegeta Croatia Open Umag.
Former World No.5 Robredo roared through the opening set for the loss of just six points before Fognini broke to lead 2-1 in the second.
Robredo hit back to take five of the last six games and win his 12th career singles title after 62 minutes. The 31 year-old was also triumphant on clay in Casablanca earlier in the year
Stat Attack – Robredo
- Robredo has a 25-10 record on clay in 2013 and has won 11 of his career titles on the dirt
- The Spaniard is now ranked 23rd, his highest since April 26th 2010 having fallen as low as 471st in May last year
Stat Attack – Fognini
- The Italian has increased his ranking from 31st to a career best 16th following his winning streak
Youzhny seals Swiss success in Gstaad
Mikhail Youzhny conquered the Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Robin Haase in the final.
The sixth seeded Russian had fended off three match points in his quarter final victory over Juan Monaco but had a more straightforward win against the unseeded Haase.
One break in each set proved decisive as Youzhny clinched his 9th ATP World Tour singles title.
Stat Attack – Youzhny
- The Russian has now won three clay court titles as well victories on indoor and outdoor hard courts and indoor carpet
- Youzhny has won a title for six of the last seven years with 2011 the only exception
Stat Attack – Haase
- The Dutchman has not won a set in five career meetings with Youzhny
Svitolina clinches maiden title in Baku
18 year-old Elina Svitolina won her first WTA singles title at the Baku Cup in Azerbaijan with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Shahar Peer.
The seventh seeded Ukrainian teenager held the edge over former World No.11 Peer throughout the final and sealed victory with an ace on her second match point after 98 minutes.
Stat Attack – Svitolina
- Svitolina makes her top 50 debut at a career high ranking of 49th after the win
- The Ukrainian reached No.1 in the junior ITF rankings and won the 2010 Junior French Open title
Stat Attack – Peer
- Peer was appearing in her first final for two years and now holds a 5-4 record in career singles finals