Dominika Cibulková
(; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player.
She is the
2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
in
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
,
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
and
Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
) to win the tournament on her debut. She won eight
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
singles titles and two on the
ITF Circuit.
Cibulková reached the quarterfinals or better of all four
Grand Slam tournaments at least once. One of her most notable achievements was a final appearance at the
2014 Australian Open. Although she lost to
Li Na
Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association. Li won nine WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two Grand Slam (t ...
, she was the first female Slovak to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament.
Personal life
Cibulková was introduced to tennis at the age of eight in
Piešťany
Piešťany (; , , , ) is a town in Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the country within the Trnava Region and is the seat of its Piešťany District, own district. It is the biggest and best known spa town in Slovakia and has around ...
. She was eleven when her family moved to
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
. Her mother is the Slovak lawyer and politician
Katarína Cibulková.
[
Her signature expression, ''"Pome,"'' is the slang spelling of ''"Poďme"'', which translates to "Let's go" or "Come on" in English.] With the help of her friend Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title, after previously being runner-up in 2007 Wimbledo ...
, she began a clothing line featuring this statement in 2014.[
On 9 July 2016, Cibulková married her fiancé Michal Navara. In December 2019, not long after announcing her retirement, she announced that she was expecting her first child, who was born in June 2020. In September 2022, she announced her second pregnancy.
]
Career
Early years
Early in her career, Cibulková predominantly competed on the ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.
History
It serves as a developmenta ...
, and managed to win two tournaments: the Amarante event in Portugal in 2005, and the Bratislava event in 2006.[
]
2007: Major debut
She started the season with a win over Tara Iyer in the first round of the Bangalore Open, but lost to No. 4 seed Jelena Kostanić Tošić in the second round.
At the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Cibulková qualified and made her Grand Slam main-draw debut, reaching the third round. In the second, she upset Martina Müller after beating Sun Tiantian
Sun Tiantian ( zh, s=孙甜甜, p=Sūn Tiántián; ; born 12 October 1981) is a Chinese tennis player. She won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles along with her partner Li Ting.
Sun reached a career-high singles ...
but eventually lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Kuznetsova won 18 singl ...
. She also reached the third round in Amelia Island, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues
Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player.
As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2009, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
but losing to fellow Slovak Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Martin ...
, and the quarterfinals of the ECM Prague Open, beating Gisela Dulko before falling to Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka (born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), having held the position for a total of 51 weeks ...
.
Her best finish of the year came in September, when she exited at the semifinal stage at the Guangzhou International Open in China where she lost to eventual champion Virginie Razzano.
2008: First WTA Tour final
At the Australian Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis pla ...
. Playing for Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
in the first round of Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
against the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
in Brno, she split her two singles matches as her country lost the tie 2–3.
At the Qatar Ladies Open, Cibulková reached her first-ever Tier-I quarterfinal, defeating former world No. 1, Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...
, in the third round, before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska
Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
in the quarterfinals. In April, Cibulková reached the final of a WTA Tour event for the first time. At the Tier-II clay-court Amelia Island Championships, she lost the final to Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
. Cibulková was seeded 30th in singles at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
but lost in the first round to unseeded wildcard player and eventual semifinalist, Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15.
Zheng is one of China's most successful tennis players. She won four singles titles on the ...
of China. She reached the third round of the women's singles at the 2008 Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...
. At the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Cibulková defeated second-seeded Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the W ...
in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, but lost the final to seventh-seeded Dinara Safina
Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...
.[
]
2009: French Open semifinal
At the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková advanced to the fourth round and lost to Elena Dementieva
Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 3 in women's singles and world No. 5 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Dem ...
. She began the clay-court season at the MPS Group Championships and Family Circle Cup, losing to Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles.
Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...
and Elena Dementieva respectively.
At the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she was seeded 20th and defeated Alona Bondarenko
Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok (; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her sisters Valeria and Kateryna Bondarenko are also tennis players.
Her career-high singles ranking is No. 19, achieved on 14 April 2008. Alo ...
, Kirsten Flipkens, Gisela Dulko, and Ágnes Szávay to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She then defeated Maria Sharapova in straight sets, but lost to Dinara Safina in the semifinal. In this successful phase of her career, she worked with tennis coach Vladimír Pláteník
Vladimír Pláteník (born 18 February 1976) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Slovakia.
Pláteník is currently a head coach at the international EMPIRE Tennis Academy in Trnava, Slovakia where he worked with Daria Ka ...
and fitness coach Maroš Molnár from Slovakia. Seeded 14th at Wimbledon, she beat Julie Coin
Julie Coin (; born 2 December 1982) is a retired French tennis player.
Coin recorded the biggest win of her career by defeating the then- world No. 1 ranked Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 US Open. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 60, ...
and Urszula Radwańska
Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player.
Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and eleven doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reac ...
, but lost to Elena Vesnina in the third round. She then competed at the Swedish Open where she lost to Gisela Dulko in the quarterfinals. She withdrew from the US Open and several of the following hard-court tournaments due to a rib injury.[
]
2010: US Open quarterfinal
Cibulková started 2010 by reaching the quarterfinals of the Auckland Open where she lost to top seed Flavia Pennetta. At the Australian Open, where she was seeded 23rd, Cibulková was upset by Vania King in the first round.
At the Monterrey Open, she was the fourth seed. Cibulková came from a set down to beat No. 5 seed Ágnes Szávay in the quarterfinals. She fell to No. 2 seed, Daniela Hantuchová, in three sets. At the Indian Wells Open she was upset by Sara Errani
Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...
in the second round, after receiving a bye.
She then played at the Rosmalen Open, losing her quarterfinal match to Kirsten Flipkens. At Wimbledon, where she upset Lucie Šafářová
Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles.
She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles ...
and Ayumi Morita, she lost in the third round to world No. 1, Serena Williams. At the US Open, Cibulková advanced to her second career major quarterfinal, after defeating Stefanie Vögele
Stefanie Vögele (born 10 March 1990) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 11 November 2013. Her highest WTA rankings, WTA ranking in doubles is 100, which she reached on 5 January ...
, 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko, Lourdes Domínguez Lino, and 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She lost to the top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.[
]
2011: First title on WTA Tour
Cibulková began the year at the Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
where she reached quarterfinals defeating Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci
Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she is a Grand Slam (tennis)#Career Grand Slam, Career Grand Slam champion having won all Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments and reac ...
. She lost her quarterfinal match to eventual champion Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
, 0–6, 4–6. She then entered the Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
and defeated Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲenkə, a=Ru-Maria_Kirilenko.ogg; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champio ...
in the first round, in two sets. In the second, she beat world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
, in straight sets before she was defeated by Alisa Kleybanova
Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career, she won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour. ...
in the quarterfinals. Seeded 29th at the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková won her first two rounds against Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
and Alberta Brianti. In the third round, she lost to top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, in straight sets.
In the Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie versus the Czech Republic, Cibulková played one rubber in which she was upset by Petra Kvitová. The Czech Republic ended up defeating Slovakia 3–2. Seeded eighth at the Open GdF Suez, Cibulková advanced to the quarterfinals beating qualifier Ana Vrljić and Melanie Oudin losing there to third seed Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour.
Described as a 'resident Grand Slam up ...
. At Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, Cibulková lost in the first round to Jarmila Groth
Jarmila Wolfe (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player.
In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on ...
. At the Qatar Open, she was defeated in the second round by second seed and eventual champion, Vera Zvonareva
Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲerə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ran ...
6–1, 6–2. Seeded 25th at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková got a first-round bye. She won her second- and third-round matches over wildcard Sania Mirza and third seed Vera Zvonareva but lost in round four to 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer. Seeded 25th at the Miami Open, Cibulková again got a first-round bye. She was defeated in the third round by eighth seed and eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.
In the World Group play-offs tie against Serbia, she won her first rubber against Bojana Jovanovski in three sets. She faced Ana Ivanovic
Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...
in her final rubber and won the first set 6–4; it was tied 3–3 in the second set when Ivanovic retired due to an abdominal muscle problem. Her two wins were not enough as Serbia defeated Slovakia 3–2.
Cibulková began her clay-court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she lost in the first round to German wildcard Sabine Lisicki in two narrow sets.
At Wimbledon, Cibulková repeated the upset from Sydney by beating Wozniacki in three sets, losing in the quarterfinals to Maria Sharapova.
She won her first tour title at the Kremlin Cup, edging Kaia Kanepi in three sets. Her win represents the first time a player has captured their maiden title at the Kremlin Cup.
2012
Seeded 17th in the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková lost her second-round match to Gréta Arn. At the Miami Open, she came close to beating then-world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, leading her by a set and 5–2 before Azarenka prevailed. Cibulková then reached the finals of the Barcelona Open, losing to Sara Errani. At the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she avenged her Miami loss to Azarenka, beating the world No. 1 in straight sets in the fourth round. She subsequently reached the quarterfinals for the second time, but lost to Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur (born 30 March 1984) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and ...
.
Her only Wimbledon warm up tournament was the Rosmalen Championships. She reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Nadia Petrova
Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova ( ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world in both disciplines (doing s ...
. She lost in the first round at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
to Klára Zakopalová. At the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, she competed in the women's singles and the women's doubles with Daniela Hantuchova, but lost in the first round of each.
She defeated Marion Bartoli in straight sets to win the Carlsbad Open in California, picking up the second title of her career. She reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Roberta Vinci.
2013
Cibulková began her 2013 season at the Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
. She lost in the first round to Sloane Stephens
Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...
. After Brisbane, Cibulková competed at the Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
. She reached the final after wins over fifth seed Petra Kvitová, Ekaterina Makarova, third seed Sara Errani, and second seed Angelique Kerber. In the championship match, she was defeated by top seed Agnieszka Radwańska; she failed to win a single game during the match. Seeded 15th at the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková lost in the second round to qualifier Valeria Savinykh.
Seeded fourth at the Paris Indoors, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by lucky loser Kiki Bertens. During the Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie versus Serbia, Cibulková retired from her match against Vesna Dolonc due to a calf injury. Slovakia was still able to win the tie 3–2. At the Dubai Championships, Cibulková lost in the first round to Nadia Petrova. Seeded twelfth at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková was defeated in the third round by 19th seed Klára Zakopalová. Seeded 13th at the Miami Open, Cibulková advanced to the fourth round where she lost to top seed and eventual champion, Serena Williams. Playing in the semifinal Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie versus Russia, Cibulková won her first match over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but lost her second match to Maria Kirilenko. Russia defeated Slovakia 3–2 to advance to the Fed Cup Final.
Cibulková started her clay-court season at the Portugal Open. Seeded second, she was defeated in the first round by Urszula Radwańska. Seeded 15th at the Madrid Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to Sabine Lisicki. Seeded 14th at the Italian Open, Cibulková was defeated in the third round by top seed and eventual champion, Serena Williams. Seeded third at the Brussels Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to eventual champion Kaia Kanepi. Seeded 16th at the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by Marina Erakovic.
Beginning her grass-court season as the second seed at the Rosmalen Championships, Cibulková reached the quarterfinal where she lost to qualifier Garbiñe Muguruza
Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...
. Seeded 18th at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the third round by 11th seed Roberta Vinci.
Cibulková kicked off her US Open Series at Stanford. Seeded third, she won her third WTA Tour singles title beating top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the final. Despite being the defending champion at the Southern California Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to seventh seed Ana Ivanovic. At the Canadian Open, Cibulková made it to the quarterfinal where she was defeated by fourth seed Li Na. In Ohio at the Cincinnati Open, Cibulková fell in the first round to qualifier Polona Hercog. Seeded eighth at the New Haven Open at Yale
The Connecticut Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts under various names and in various venues from 1948 until 2019.
It was most recently a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Premier Tournament on the WTA Tour, ...
, Cibulková lost in the first round to Klára Zakopalová. Seeded 17th at the US Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Elina Svitolina
Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina (, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and No. 108 in doubles by the WTA rankings, WTA. Svitolina has won 18 WTA Tour single ...
.
Seeded sixteenth in Tokyo at the Pan Pacific Open, Cibulková lost in the third round to second seed Agnieszka Radwańska. At the China Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Madison Keys
Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 5 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Keys has won ten WTA Tour-level career singles ...
. Seeded seventh at the Generali Ladies Linz, Cibulková lost in her quarterfinal match to third seed, two-time champion, and eventual finalist, Ana Ivanovic. Cibulková played her final tournament of the season at the Kremlin Cup. Seeded ninth, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Vesna Dolonc.
Cibulková ended the year ranked 23.
2014: First major final and inconsistencies
Cibulková began the season at the Brisbane International, where she dropped a quarterfinal match to Serena Williams. At the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she won her first three matches in straight sets, setting up her first hardcourt meeting with Maria Sharapova, whom she defeated in three sets. She then defeated Simona Halep to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2009 French Open. Following her semifinal upset over Radwańska, Cibulková was featured on the January 24 cover of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. She faced Li Na in her first major final, losing the first set in a tie-break and the second set without winning a game.[
In February, she played for Slovakia in a ]Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
match against Germany. She lost both her matches, against Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber. Slovakia was eliminated from the competition.
Cibulková won the Mexican Open in Acapulco with a victory over Christina McHale.[ She reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Open, losing to Li Na. At the Miami Open, she defeated Agnieszka Radwańska in a three-set quarterfinal. With this victory, Cibulková entered the WTA top 10 for the first time in her career. She exited the tournament in the semifinals, losing to Li Na in three sets. She then reached the final of the Malaysian Open, which she lost to Donna Vekić. After that final, Cibulková's struggled with form were noticeable, as she won just nine matches and lost fifteen till the end of season. At Grand Slam tournaments, she reached the third round of the ]French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
and Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
.[ She exited in the first round of the US Open, losing to CiCi Bellis in three sets.
]
2015: Achilles surgery
Seeded fourth at the Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
, Cibulková lost in the first round to Madison Keys. Seeded seventh at Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, she was defeated in the second round by Jarmila Gajdošová. Seeded 11th at the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková reached the quarterfinals by beating Kirsten Flipkens, Tsvetana Pironkova, Alizé Cornet, and Victoria Azarenka. In her quarterfinal match, she lost to top seed and eventual champion Serena Williams.
Seeded sixth at Antwerpen, she reached the quarterfinals where she was defeated by eventual champion Andrea Petkovic. During that match, she struggled with a left Achilles tendon injury. Cibulková underwent surgery for her left Achilles tendon in February and missed the North American hardcourt and all of the clay-court season.
Cibulková returned for the grass-court season at the Eastbourne International
The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
. She lost in the third round to Tsvetana Pironkova. At the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
, she fell in the first round to Daniela Hantuchová.
At the İstanbul Cup, Cibulková lost in the first round to fifth seed Camila Giorgi. Seeded third at the Baku Cup, she was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Margarita Gasparyan.
At the Canadian Open, she lost in the second round to Alizé Cornet. In Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Flavia Pennetta. At the Connecticut Open, she lost in her quarterfinal match to fourth seed and eventual finalist, Lucie Šafářová. In New York at the US Open, Cibulková stunned seventh seed and former world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the first round. She was defeated in the third round by 25th seed Eugenie Bouchard
Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
.
In Tokyo at the Pan Pacific Open, Cibulková reached the semifinal where she lost to seventh seed and eventual champion, Agnieszka Radwańska. At the Wuhan Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Madison Brengle. Playing in Beijing at the China Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to tenth seed Angelique Kerber. Cibulková competed in her final tournament of the season at the Kremlin Cup. She was defeated in the second round by fifth seed Carla Suárez Navarro.
Cibulková ended the year ranked 38.
2016: Resurgence, WTA Finals champion
Cibulková started her 2016 year at the Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
. In the first round, she beat Yanina Wickmayer in three sets followed by a second-round loss to eight seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets. Next, she played at the Hobart International where she was the third seed. She reached the semifinals by beating Johanna Konta, Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell and qualifier Kiki Bertens. In the semifinals, Cibulková lost to Eugenie Bouchard in a three-set match. At the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she lost in the first round to 28th seed Kristina Mladenovic in two sets, thus failing to defend her quarterfinal points from 2015.
In February, she played one match for Slovakia in the Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie against Australia. She won her match against Kimberly Birrell, but Slovakia lost to Australia 2–3.
Cibulková reached the final in Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
, where she lost to the second seed Sloane Stephens
Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...
.[ In Indian Wells, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round, despite leading 5–3 and having a match point in the third set.
She won the Katowice Open by defeating Camila Giorgi in the final. This was her first WTA title of the season. She then reached the final of the Madrid Open, but was runner-up to Simona Halep.
At the rain-drenched ]French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
that year, in muddy and heavy conditions, she reached the third round before falling to Carla Suarez Navarro. Cibulková won her first grass-court title at the Eastbourne International
The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, defeating Karolína Plíšková
Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...
in the final. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
where she was defeated by Elena Vesnina.
Following early exits in the US Open and the Pan Pacific Open, she reached the final in Wuhan
Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...
, opposite Petra Kvitová, but finished as runner-up. Nevertheless, this strong performance in the tournament, including having to play two matches on the same day at one point, saw her reach a career high of No. 8 in the rankings.[
Cibulková won the Ladies Linz with a straight-sets victory over Viktorija Golubic, earning her third WTA Tour title of the year and seventh overall. It also ensured that she qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore for the first time in her career. After dropping a three-set match to Angelique Kerber, and a second match to Madison Keys, Cibulková defeated Simona Halep in straight sets to advance to the semifinals. She then defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets, advancing to the championship round. She beat world No. 1, Angelique Kerber, in straight sets to claim the WTA Finals title in her first appearance at the tournament.][ She ended the year with four titles and a career-high ranking of world No. 5.
]
2017: First doubles title, out of top 20
Cibulková started her 2017 season at the Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
. Seeded second, she lost in her quarterfinal match to eventual finalist Alizé Cornet. Seeded third at the Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by Eugenie Bouchard. Seeded sixth at the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková lost in the third round to 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova.
Seeded second at the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, Cibulková reached the semifinal where she was defeated by Yulia Putintseva
Yulia Antonovna Putintseva (, ; born 7 January 1995) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 27 January 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 76 on 17 March 2025.
Puti ...
. Seeded third at the Qatar Open, Cibulková lost in her semifinal match to second seed and eventual champion Karolína Plíšková. Seeded third in Dubai at the Dubai Championships, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by Ekaterina Makarova. Seeded fifth at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková advanced to the fourth round where she lost to nineteenth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Nevertheless, this result saw her rise to a new career-high of No. 4 in the WTA rankings. Seeded fourth at the Miami Open, Cibulková reached the fourth round where she was defeated by Lucie Šafářová.
Cibulková was due to play in Stuttgart at the Porsche Grand Prix but withdrew at the last minute due to a wrist injury she sustained in practice. Seeded fourth and last year finalist at the Madrid Open, Cibulková defeated Jelena Janković in the first round but lost in the second round to qualifier Océane Dodin. Seeded fourth in Rome at the Italian Open, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by Ekaterina Makarova. This was Cibulková's third loss to Makarova this season. Seeded sixth at the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Cibulková suffered a second-round upset at the hands of lucky loser Ons Jabeur.
As the top seed at the Ricoh Open, her first grass-court tournament of the season, Cibulková suffered a shocking first-round upset at the hands of German qualifier Antonia Lottner. However, she managed to win the doubles title alongside Kirsten Flipkens. This was her first WTA title in doubles, although this was already her third doubles final at this tournament. Seeded third at the Birmingham Classic, Cibulková lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová. Seeded fourth and the defending champion at the Eastbourne International
The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by British wildcard Heather Watson. Seeded eighth at the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
, Cibulková beat Andrea Petkovic in a two-hour-and-43-minute-long first round match. She then defeated Jennifer Brady in the second round; she lost in her third-round match to 27th seed Ana Konjuh.
Seeded 11th at the Rogers Cup, Cibulková was defeated in the second round by Lucie Šafářová. Seeded 11th in Ohio at the Western & Southern Open, Cibulková lost in the third round to seventh seed Johanna Konta. Seeded second at the Connecticut Open, Cibulková advanced to her first final of the year where she was defeated by Daria Gavrilova. Seeded eleventh at the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to eventual champion Sloane Stephens.
Seeded fifth in Tokyo at the Pan Pacific Open, Cibulková retired during the third set of her quarterfinal match against third seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki due to a right thigh injury. Cibulková returned from injury at the Wuhan Open. Seeded seventh, she was defeated in the third round by eventual champion Caroline Garcia. Seeded eighth at the China Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to Elise Mertens. Cibulková withdrew from the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, the tournament she won last year, due to injury. She also missed the Kremlin Cup.
Cibulková ended the year ranked 26.
2018: Continued struggles
Cibulková started her 2018 season at the Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
. She reached the quarterfinal where she lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. Seeded 24th at the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Kaia Kanepi.
At the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, Cibulková lost in the second round to fourth seed, defending champion, and eventual finalist Kristina Mladenovic. At the Qatar Open, Cibulková defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round before losing to seventh seed Caroline Garcia in the second round. As the top seed at the Hungarian Ladies Open, Cibulková reached the final where she was defeated by Alison Van Uytvanck. Seeded 30th at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková suffered a second-round upset at the hands of American wildcard Caroline Dolehide. Cibulková withdrew from the Miami Open due to illness.
Seeded second at the Morocco Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to Polona Hercog. At the Madrid Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by seventh seed Caroline Garcia. In Rome at the Italian Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to three-time champion Maria Sharapova. Seeded fifth at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, Cibulková reached the final where she was defeated by third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. This championship match lasted for three hours and thirty-five minutes; she had two match points but failed to convert. At the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Cibulková lost in the first round to 11th seed Julia Görges.
Cibulková began her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic. She was defeated in the first round by Daria Gavrilova. In Eastbourne at the Eastbourne International
The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, Cibulková lost in the second round to fourth seed Angelique Kerber. At the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
, Cibulková reached the quarterfinal after wins over Alizé Cornet, twenty-second seed Johanna Konta, fifteenth seed Elise Mertens, and Hsieh Su-wei. She was defeated in her quarterfinal match by 12th seed Jeļena Ostapenko.
Cibulková withdrew from the Canadian Open and the Western & Southern Open due to illness. Cibulková returned to action at the Connecticut Open where she had reached the final the year before. She lost in the first round to fifth seed Julia Görges.
In December she opened her own tennis academy, Love4Tennis, in Bratislava and took part in a film about Li Na, to whom she lost in the final of the Australian Open in 2014.
2019: End of career
Cibulková started her 2019 season in Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
with a first-round loss to Samantha Stosur. Seeded 26th at the Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Zhang Shuai.
At the Dubai Championships, Cibulková defeated qualifier Lara Arruabarrena in the first round, before falling in the second round to fourth seed Karolína Plíšková. Seeded thirty-second at the Indian Wells Open, Cibulková received a first-round bye; she lost in the second round to eventual champion Bianca Andreescu
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked world No. 4 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Andreescu has won two singles titles on the WTA T ...
. At the Miami Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Victoria Azarenka. During the Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie versus Brazil, Cibulková won both of her rubbers beating Carolina Alves and Beatriz Haddad Maia. Slovakia won the tie 3–1.
Beginning her clay-court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Cibulková lost in the first round to qualifier Greet Minnen. In Madrid at the Madrid Open, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by Naomi Osaka
is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the ...
. At the Italian Open, Cibulková lost in the second round to top seed Naomi Osaka. In Paris at the French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Cibulková was defeated in the first round by 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka.
She did not play another singles match, and by the end of the season, she had sunk to No. 315 on the WTA rankings. Cibulková retired from professional tennis at the end of the season. Coincidentally, her final match of the year was at the French Open in doubles, partnered with Lucie Šafářová. The pair lost in the first round to Sofia Kenin/Andrea Petkovic and Šafářová retired after this tournament, meaning that both retired players' last match was with each other.
Playing style
In 2014, Steve Tignor of '' Tennis.com'' called Cibulková "a threat to everyone". In describing her style, he later suggested that "any player, from top pros to rank amateurs, can learn a thing or two from how Cibulková approaches the game," citing aggression, enthusiasm, and a quick pace between points.
Self-described as a player with "a lot of energy",[ Cibulková employed an aggressive style that was largely founded on speed and power.] She was known for her remarkable racquet-head speed,[ which enabled her to produce deep groundstrokes with her forehand and powerful shots with her backhand. She was also known for approaching the net and finishing points with swing volleys.] Her aggressive shots have been noted for their ability to force errors or produce winners during extended rallies.
When a point ended, Cibulková "refocused right away," using the pace to pressure opponents or avoid negativity.[ She typically employed a high ball toss and a hard serve.][
On defense, she often attacked second serves with quick forehands, and hit prompt returns while taking the ball on the rise. Occasionally, she did break a prolonged rally by mixing in a drop shot. Her lower-body strength created quickness around the court, enabling her to reach and return shots.][
]
Career statistics
Grand Slam tournament finals
Singles: 1 (runner-up)
Year-end championships finals
Singles: 1 (title)
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Records
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cibulkova, Dominika
1989 births
Hopman Cup competitors
Living people
Olympic tennis players for Slovakia
Sportspeople from Piešťany
Slovak female tennis players
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics