Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova is on an eight-match winning roll on grass she hopes will continue deep into the second week of Wimbledon.
The 19th seed beat 2014 runner-up Eugenie Bouchard 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to reach the last 16 without the loss of a set and now has third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in her sights.
Cibulkova prepared for the championships by winning the Eastbourne title -- knocking out Poland’s Radwanska in the quarter-finals -- and the old saying that momentum is key to success on grass courts could not be more apt.
“It’s coming together,” Cibulkova, who reached the quarter-finals in 2011, told Reuters.
“Here we are, I won Eastbourne and now I’m in the fourth round here and it feels great. I just want to keep going.”
Cibulkova, 27, had suffered defeats in both her previous meetings with Bouchard but won comfortably on Saturday.
“Today I was 100 percent sure I could win and I stayed calm, played brave in tough situations and went for my shots,” she said. “The things I’ve been working on, especially the serve have really helped me.”
Radwanska easily disposed of unseeded Katerina Siniakova and Cibulkova, a former Australian Open runner-up, knows that the task facing her on Monday will be in complete contrast to that posed by the attack-minded Bouchard.
{{/usCountry}}Radwanska easily disposed of unseeded Katerina Siniakova and Cibulkova, a former Australian Open runner-up, knows that the task facing her on Monday will be in complete contrast to that posed by the attack-minded Bouchard.
{{/usCountry}}“This will be our fourth match this year, the matches are always very tough, she is the best defensive player in the world,” she said. “She makes you play one more ball, one more ball, so I’ll have to be patient.”
Canadian Bouchard was impressed with Cibulkova’s level.
“She was killing my serves and controlling points more than I did,” the former world number five said.