Cibulkova sweeps past Bartoli to win Carlsbad trophy
Dominika Cibulkova won six of the last seven games, beating a fatigued Marion Bartoli 6-1, 7-5 to win the second title of her career at the Mercury Insurance Open on Sunday.
The diminutive 1.61-metre Slovak will rise one spot in the rankings to 13th after claiming her first title since her breakthrough trophy last autumn in Moscow.
Cibulkova fought back from two breaks and 4-1 down in the second set after winning the first against an opponent who was tapped out after playing three consecutive three-set matches and spending nearly nine hours on court heading into the final
Cibulkova will now head to the London Olympics buoyed by her latest success.
"Today I played well all through the match -in the past finals I was nervous. This was the first one where I just went for it - everything went my way," Cibulkova said.
"I've changed my coach recently, and I'm more relaxed on the court. It's all working out really well for me."
The victory at La Costa concluded as Bartoli committed her sixth double fault of the hot afternoon to give her opponent three match points. One was enough as the delighted winner joyfully fell on her back in victory.
Bartoli, who had battled a hip problem all week, said she did the best she could. "I lost, but Dominika played a great match.
"I wish her good luck at the Olympics. I fought hard in my previous matches, today I just came up a bit short," she said.
Cibulkova won while playing her second final of the season after losing on clay to French Open finalist Sara Errani in Barcelona last spring.
