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19 March 2024

Cibulkova eyeing maiden title in Moscow

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova returns a ball to Russia's Elena Vesnina during the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. (AP)

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By AFP

Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova continued her rich vein of form by crushing Russian Elena Vesnina 6-0 6-2 in the Kremlin Cup semi-finals on Saturday to reach her second final in as many weeks. 

The eighth seed, who lost to Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in last week’s Linz Open final, will face unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi in Sunday’s showpiece at the Olympic indoor arena in Moscow. 

The 43rd-ranked Kanepi came from a set down to topple Czech Lucie Safarova 6-7 6-4 6-3 in the second semifinal. 

The men’s final on Sunday will be an all-Serbian affair between top seed Janko Tipsarevic and last year’s winner, Viktor Troicki, the number two seed. 

Troicki beat French qualifier Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-4 in the first semi-final, and Tipsarevic prevailed over Russia’s fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 7-5 in the last match on centre court. 

Cibulkova, who upset top seed Vera Zvonareva in Friday’s quarter-finals, had little trouble against Vesnina and eased into the final in just over an hour when her unseeded opponent dumped a tame smash into the net on match point. 

“When you win the first set 6-0 it’s easy to lose your concentration a little bit,” Cibulkova told reporters. 

“That’s what happened to me at the start of the second set but I managed to wake up soon and finish the match. 

“I know I’ve lost all three of my previous finals, including the one last week, but I feel if I continue playing the way I do now sooner or later I’ll win one.”