By James Waterson Photo Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images
(July 27, 2011) Eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of the Slovak Republic booked her spot in the quarterfinal of the Bank of the West Classic after she outlasted Christina McHale of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Cibulkova started the match in fine form, as she lost only two points on her serve and she broke McHale, ranked No. 65, once.
The second set was a different story, as McHale improved her effectiveness on her serve by losing only eight points and she broke Cibulkova twice to take the set.
The final set was very even, as Cibulkova claimed three breaks to McHale’s two. The difference was Mchale’s ability to win points on her own serve. While she performed well in the second set, she won only nine points on her serve in the third set.
Cibulkova moves on to face the winner between defending champion and top seed Victoria Azarenka and Marina Erakovic of New Zealand.
Third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France dispatched Rebecca Marino of Canada 6-4, 6-3.
Bartoli won 68 percent of her service points and broke Marino four times, while she was broken only once.
Although she was broken once, the Frenchwoman got away with a relatively low first-serve percentage of 53 percent and six double faults.
She moves on to face the winner between Urszula Radwanska and Ayumi Morita, who upset Ana Ivanovic in the first round.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the fifth seed and last year's semifinalist, outlasted Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 later in the afternoon.
She could face either Wimbledon semifinalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany or fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia in the quarterfinal.