Cibulkova upsets Radwanska
STANFORD: Dominika Cibulkova pulled off a gritty 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over topseeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Sunday to win the WTA premier hardcourt tournament in California.
Slovakian third seed Cibulkova shook off the memory of four prior defeats against Radwanska, including a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing in the final at Sydney in January, to claim a third career WTA title.
She broke world No.4 Radwanska for a 5-4 lead in the third set, then clawed through a final game lasting more than 10 minutes to seal the triumph on her fifth match point.
‘‘It seemed like forever,’’ Cibulkova said of the final game, but she was beaming after firing a backhand winner to take the match, her father, Milan, racing onto the court to congratulate her moments after.
‘‘He got a little emotional,’’ said Cibulkova, who had done a good job of controlling her own nerves as the match points piled up in the final game.
‘‘When I missed the first match point, I was like ‘No way’. Then it was second, third, she had a break point to come back. It wasn’t easy. That’s why I’m really proud I got this win.’’
In Atlanta, top-seeded John Isner saved two match points then dominated the closing tiebreaker to beat Kevin Anderson 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 on Sunday to win the ATP Atlanta Open.
In a match billed as the tallest final in the history of the ATP Tour, the 2.06m Isner fired 24 aces to the 21 of the 2.03m Anderson and saved all 11 break points he faced.
That included two match points for South Africa’s second-seeded Anderson in the 12th game of the third set, when Isner fended off one with a service winner and survived another when Anderson nudged a backhand long.
Having held serve to tie the set at 6-6, Isner didn’t give Anderson any more chances. He raced to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker and took a 6-1 lead with a pair of booming serves. Anderson saved one match point with a service winner of his own before netting a backhand on the final point.
Isner claimed his second trophy of the season to go with the one he captured in Houston in April, and capped a return from the left knee injury that saw him retire from his first-round match at Wimbledon.
‘‘This is a tournament where I could’ve been out in my first match,’’ Isner said. ‘‘I lived on the edge all week and seemed to come through each and every time. It’s very encouraging.’’