By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, October 23, 2016
The WTA Finals was a dead-end drive for Angelique Kerber in recent years.
The sturdy German managed just two career victories in three prior trips to the season-ending event.
Watch: Top 5 Players Who Can Succeed Kerber as Next No. 1
Staring down a 1-2 deficit in the final set today, Kerber got busy. She quickened her feet, lengthened her drives and cleaned up her game.
The world No. 1 reeled off five of the last six games squeezing out a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3 victory over Dominika Cibulkova in her WTA Finals round-robin opener.
"Domi is a tough opponent," Kerber told Andrew Krasny afterward. "She played very well in the last few months. I was ready for that. I knew I had to play my best tennis. I really enjoyed it and I'm really happy I won in the end."
Kerber raised her three-set record to 18-6 this season.
Third-seeded Romanian Simona Halep opened the day defeating Madison Keys, 6-2, 6-4, in 69 minutes. Kerber and Halep now stand atop the Red Group standings of the eight-player event.
Kerber broke at the outset, but ran into trouble in the eighth game. Spitting up a double fault she faced double break point. The top seed curled a crosscourt running forehand to save the second break point.
Thirty-three minutes into the match, Cibulkova found her groove. A backhand winner down the line followed by a flat forehand winner down the line gave the Slovak a third break point. When Kerber clanked her second double fault of the game, Cibulkova broke back for 4-all.
Staring down a break point in the ensuing game after incurring a time violation warning, Cibulkova applied her footwork. Dancing around her backhand, she slashed successive forehand winners down the line, snatching her third straight game for 5-4.
Coach Torben Beltz came out to try to rouse the reigning US Open champion.
Straddling the baseline, Cibulkova controlled rallies driving her churning forehand into the corners. A sweeping forehand swing volley helped her hold for 6-5. Winning a nose-to-nose duel at net, Kerber held at 15 to force the tie break.
A quality breaker careened back and forth with neither woman able to create separation.
Deadlocked at 5-all, Cibulkova pulled the string on what looked to be a perfect drop shot, but the ball tripped on top of the tape and fluttered wide giving Kerber set point. When Cibulkova sailed a backhand, Kerber, who had been pushed around in the latter stages of the set, snatched a one-set lead after 63 minutes of play.
Shaking off the tie break, Cibulkova broke to open the second set. Cibulkova quickly consolidated at love.
On a slower, lower-bouncing court, the depth of Cibulkova's drives and her ability to hug the baseline and take the ball early confined Kerber into defensive positions. Cibulkova planted a forehand winner in the corner scoring her second straight break for 3-0, eventually extending to 4-0.
Adjusting her return positioning, Kerber began to attack her returns. She broke back for 2-4 only to see Cibulkova, hitting with more authority, earn her fourth break of the match.
Unloading her forehand with menacing intent, Cibulkova cracked a forehand down the line then slashed an inside-out forehand winner, forcing a decisive third set.
Both women have been strong going the distance this season: Kerber carried a 17-6 three-set record into the decider, while Cibulkova boasted an 18-9 mark going the distance.
The WTA Finals debutante drained a forehand error for triple break point. Reading the left-hander's serve, Cibulkova fired a return winner breaking for 2-1.
Quick off the mark reading a drop shot, Kerber shoveled a pass up the line breaking back for 2-2.
The forehand helped power Cibulkova through the second set, but it betrayed her midway through the third. The world No. 8 pasted a forehand into net opening the sixth game, missed a wide open court sailing a forehand long for triple break point then banged another netted forehand gifting the break and a 4-2 lead.
Playing cleaner tennis, Kerber reeled off her fourth straight game for 5-2.
Given the high quality and spirited competitiveness of the match, it wasn't surprising there was one final plot twist. Kerber staved off a pair of break points and when a net cord shot sat up, Kerber measured the ball and hooked a forehand pass down the line for match point.
Cibulkova correctly anticipated the wide serve, ran around her backhand and tomahawked a forehand return that landed long as Kerber erupted with resounding "come on!" after a two hour, 17-minute skirmish.
"I was trying to stay positive in the third set," Kerber said afterward. "I was trying to play my game, just being aggressive and just go for it. I was focusing on serving, getting my first serve in. It was really close and tough match."