Cibulkova In 1st. Australian Open Finals, She Is Not Thinking She Has To Win, Is Winning?

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 24th January 2014

Cibulkova In 1st. Australian Open Finals, She Is Not Thinking She Has To Win, Is Winning?

epaselect epa04037534 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in action against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their semi final match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2014. EPA/MAST IRHAM |

Dominika Cibulkova has reached her first Grand Slam event final at the Australian Open and while there were technical and physical issues she had to address during the off-season, the Slovak needed a mental boost too.

She has learned not to get so down on herself, which is why she has been able to put together her best run at a major, shocking 2008 champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, belting Romanian up comer Simona Halep in the quarterfinals then pasting world No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals, whom she came into the match with a 1-5 record against.

“If I think I have to win it’s not fun anymore and then tennis doesn’t make me happy because I feel like I have to win,”” she said. Now I am trying to be more relaxed and enjoy it.”

The 24-year-old Cibulkova also said that she had to figure how to a blend her high-octane offense with a dependable defense. She has had some fine results in the past, like reaching the 2009 Roland Garros semis, but the 20th seed has yet to crack the top 10.

“That’s what my coach is trying to work on,” she recently said of Slovakian Fed Cup Matej Liptak, who is also her private coach. “Last year I thought he was trying to change my game too much and wanted me to be less aggressive, but that’s not what he really wants; he just wants to work on my defense. So I can run a lot and go from defense to offense. Before, I wanted to go for it too much.”

Cibulkova is part of a fine generation of players around the age of 24 that in 2005 lead the international junior ranks. Two time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka was in that group, as was 2011 Wimbledon titlist Petra Kvitova, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki and Radwanska, who reached the 2012 Wimbledon finals.

Cibulkova has believed that since she turned pro she was right there with them, but her resume at the majors didn’t support that. However, their success charged her engine.

“We were pushing each other,” she said. “It’s still this way and they motivate me more. If they can do it, I can do it too.”

Cibulkova has taken some tough losses in the past, but has largely been able to turn them around. At 2013 Sydney, Radwanska smoked her 6-0, 6-0 in the final, which brought her to tears. Six months later, they met in the final of Stanford and Cibulkova got over her in three sets.

“That’s something of course that is not easy, because if you have such a bad loss against somebody, you come into this match, you know what happened in the past and you cannot forget it,” said Cibulkova, who will meet three time finalist Li Na in the Australian Final.

“You just have to go against it to be stronger than what happened before. So [Stan] Wawrinka, he beat [Novak] Djokovic [in the Aussie Open quarters] that was something also what happened to me in the past. You just have to go against it to be stronger than what happened before. I was cheering for him. I know what does it mean to lose such a match like he lost last year. I never play on five sets, but I lost matches like this before. I know what does it mean to be on the same spot against same player. You just want to prove it to yourself that you can do it, and that’s what he did it.”

Topics: 10sballs, Agnieszka Radwanska, Australian Open, Dominika Cibulkova, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova, Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka