Dominika Cibulkova beats Karolina Pliskova to lift Eastbourne title
Saturday 25 June 2016 17:27, UK
Dominika Cibulkova beat Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-3 on Saturday to claim her first career title on grass at the WTA Eastbourne event.
The Slovakian twelfth seed was competing in her fourth final of 2016 and now owns two trophies since April after her impressive straight sets victory over the in-form Czech who had ended home hopes with a win over Johanna Konta on Friday.
Pliskova has been in ominous form on the grass claiming the title in Nottingham a couple of weeks ago but Cibulkova neutralised her huge serve to close out the win on her third match point.
The former Australian Open finalist is on her way back from an injury-plagued 2015 which culminated in achilles surgery and the victory will move her back to 19th in the world rankings with her second title in two months having won in Katowice.
Cibulkova adds a sixth career singles title to her collection but a first on the grass with the other five coming on outdoor and indoor hard courts.
"I'm so happy, I cannot believe that it happened today. I played well in difficult (windy) conditions for both of us," said Cibulkova. "This is a very happy time, I won my first title on grass. This is my best week ever on grass.
"This has been such a great week, this is my second time here and I'll be back for many more years. I'm happy to win the title at least once."
Pliskova is in confident mood ahead of Wimbledon and she added: "I'm pleased with how I'm playing on grass. But the main event is coming now.
"I wanted to play as many matches as I could before Wimbledon. I'm feeling good on the surface. Now I'm gonna rest for a day and be ready for next week."
