Dubai: Dominika Cibulkova is looking to kick-start her season at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, February 19 to March 4.
The 27-year-old Slovakian WTA Tour final winner suffered a disappointing Australian campaign, winning only four of her seven matches in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
But her confidence remains high following a career-best 2016 season, during which her ranking soared to fifth after winning in Katowice, Eastbourne, Linz and Singapore, while reaching finals in Acapulco, Madrid and Wuhan.
But with success comes added pressure.
“This is my highest ranking,” said the World No.5. “Yeah, you can feel the expectation and the pressure. This is something I’m trying to deal with. You know, I’m first time in this situation, but I have my rituals, what I do during the match, and I just want to focus on tennis, you know, on the tactics. You put away the wrong thoughts you have on the court, like, I should win, or, I don’t want to lose. You just put it away, and you focus on the right things.”
Cibulkova will be determined to improve her record in Dubai. She failed to qualify on her Dubai debut in 2007, had to retire during her third round match in 2009 and she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the second round in 2010. In the following three years she failed to win a match, having to retire again in 2012. But now she returns to Dubai for the first time since 2013 as a potential champion.
She’s part of a field that includes seven of the world’s top 10, headed by World No. 2 and two-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber; last year’s US Open finalist and World No. 3 Karolina Pliskova; French Open champion Garbine Muguruza; three-time Dubai finalist and double Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and recent Sydney winner Johanna Konta.
Action gets underway with the WTA event on February 19, followed by the 25th staging of the ATP World Tour event from February 27. The ATP line-up includes world No. 1 Andy Murray; Australian Open champion and seven-time Dubai winner Roger Federer; Dubai defending champion, winner of three Grand Slams and World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka; two-time Dubai finalist Tomas Berdych and World No. 9 Gael Monfils.
Tickets are available from the box office at Dubai Tennis Stadium, from 9am to 9pm daily. Tickets are also available online through http://www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/en/tickets.
For further information visit www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com.
