Kerber digs deep for win

World tennis number one Angelique Kerber had to fight hard for her opening WTA Finals victory, edging out Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3 in Singapore.

Germany’s Kerber needed two hours and 17 minutes to grind to victory, admitting afterwards she had to pull out her best to prevail.

“She’s such a tough opponent that I knew I had to play my best tennis,” said Kerber.

“I was trying to stay positive, to play my game and just go for it. That was the plan and it worked well.”

Simona Halep got her Singapore campaign under way with a fine 6-2, 6-4 win against Madison Keys. Romanian Halep dispatched sixth seed Keys to top her group of the round-robin stage.