Third seed Dominika Cibulkova was at her best as she brushed aside Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell in second round action today.
The world No.37 proved a class above the 17-year-old Australian, scoring a comprehensive 6-1 6-0 victory in 48 minutes.
“I was playing aggressive and didn’t let her play,” Cibulkova said.
“Today was just a perfect match for me.”
Birrell, the world No.341, held her opening serve but from there the Slovakian dominated in a ruthless display. Cibulkova lost only 11 points in the opening set, wrapping it up 6-1 in 22 minutes.
The former world No.10’s power had Birrell on the back foot, not letting the young Australian get any rhythm or settle into the match. Cibulkova was near untouchable on serve, winning all points on her first serve and dropping a total of just three points in the opening set.
A shell-shocked Birrell kept fighting but had no answers for her more-experienced opponent as Cibulkova raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Birrell had three break points on the Cibulkova serve in the fourth game, but couldn’t take advantage. From there the Australian Open 2014 finalist raced to the finish line, wrapping up the set 6-0 with the loss of just seven points.
“She was trying to be really aggressive but I had an answer for everything,” Cibulkova said. “Even for a good serve, I had answer with a good return. I think it was really, really tough for her to play me because I was really solid.”
Cibulkova was pleased with her own form, but still praised her younger opponent.
“She was pretty good for 17 years old,” she said. “She was not afraid and going for her shots.”
Birrell was disappointed, but took positives from the experience.
“Not my best day, but I’m okay,” she said.
“I hoped it would of been closer and I definitely think that even though I lost quite convincingly, I was still in quite a few of the games and if a couple of points had of gone my way, I maybe would have settled a bit more and got used to the speed of her ball.”
Birrell vowed the loss would provide more motivation to work harder and keep developing her game.
“I think there is a bit of a difference between watching then playing against someone who is former top 10. It’s definitely a really good experience for me and I’m going to take a lot from that,” she said.
“Now I know what it feels like and the level I have to train to get to her level.”
Cibulkova now plays Dutch qualifer Kiki Bertens in tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
> Read about Bertens’ round two victory
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