Dominika Cibulkova added another title to her career-best season as she bagged the Aegon International crown in Eastbourne, defeating Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-3 in the summit clash.
The triumph marks the first ever instance where the Slovak has recorded more than once. She, now, improved to 19-3 since winning her first title of the season at Katowice Open in April.
The first set saw both the players breaking each other’s serve. At 6-5, however, Cibulkova played out a deceiving drop shot to move 40-15 up on Pliskova’s serve before taking the opener, 7-5.
The second set was more close an affair with the duo holding on to their serves. Cibulkova, then, drew the first blood to go 3-1 up and consolidated her serve throughout to close out, 6-3.
“It’s very hard to describe, this has been my best week on grass and it just feels – it just happened and I can’t believe it,” the 27-year-old told WTA after pulling off her maiden grass-court title.
“I was playing really well today but the conditions were really hard for me and my opponent. It was a great week for me,” added the Slovak, who dropped just one set throughout the tournament.
Cibulkova will now travel to the All England Club to partake at the prestigious Wimbledon Championships, where she faces Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia in the first round.
