Fresh off winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals in Singapore, Dominika Cibulkova is eager to take her success to the next level on the WTA Tour.
During Sunday’s final in Singapore, the 5’3” Slovakian produced an almost faultless performance as she defeated world No.1 Angelique Kerber in straight sets with the help of 28 winners. The impressive performance rewarded Cibulkova with a big paycheck at the end of the year, but more importantly, she has broken the top five for the first time in her career at the age of 27.
“This tournament gave me lots of self-confidence,” Cibulkova said during a press conference on Tuesday in Bratislava.
Singapore was the fourth title of the season Cibulkova has won after Katowice, Eastbourne and Linz. The run has shown the tennis community how much of a threat the 27-year-old can be to the rest of the tour with her aggressive play. It has also intensified Cibulkova’s desire to clinch her first grand slam title.
“One of my dreams is to win every Grand Slam tournament.” She said. “If a tennis player wants to be successful at such an event, he/she needs to have everything: good form and a good state of mind,” Cibulkova later added.
During her career, the world No.5 has been within touching distance of a major trophy only once. At the 2014 Australian Open she defeated Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the final. She failed to lift the title after being edged out in two sets by China’s Li Na.
Cibulkova certainly has both the game and fan base to become one of the tour’s biggest stars. Since November 2015, she has received an extra 47,000 Twitter followers. Returning back to her home country earlier this week, she has already held a meeting with the president of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska, and received a heroes welcome. On route to Slovakia, she was also given a warm welcome in Vienna, Austria.
When Cibulkova arrived in Vienna — not even Slovakia.
She’s meeting the Slovak president too. pic.twitter.com/mFikFGCCXA
— Lynn Berenbaum (@lynnlovestennis) November 1, 2016
Now one of the most talked about sports figures in Slovakia, Cibulkova will take a rest from the action before undergoing training in the off-season. Recording a win-loss of 55-21 this year, she ends the year in the world’s top 10 for the first time in her career after missing out during her 11 previous seasons.
