Radwanska Opens With Win At Bank Of The West Classic
STANFORD (CBS / AP) -- Once Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova calmed down, she regained control of her first-round match at the Bank of the West Classic.
Fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and the eighth-seeded Cibulkova each won their opening matches Monday night.
Radwanska beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2, while Cibulkova held on to beat Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
"It was a good match," Radwanska said. "I am very happy to have won my first hard court match, and especially under hot conditions. I just wanted to play very good tennis at this tournament."
The 14th-ranked Radwanska is seeking her first WTA title in three years and is enjoying a solid season. She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the fourth round of the French Open.
The 19th-ranked Cibulkova made her first appearance since reaching the quarterfinals in Wimbledon. She won for the eighth time in 10 matches and has not lost more than two matches in a row all season.
"It's not easy to play Kimiko," Cibulkova said. "She's a tough opponent. In the first set, I just played aggressively like I should and was going for my shots. In the second set, I started to be more careful with my returns and she was more in the game."
Cibulkova nearly let the match get away, falling behind in the second set before forcing a tiebreak. She fell behind 5-1 before rallying for the victory.
"I'm a player who really needs to control my emotions," Cibulkova said. "I went a little crazy once I lost my serve at 6-6. Throughout the whole tiebreaker, I was off a little bit but I just tried to focus 100 percent."
American Christina McHale beat Croatia's Mirjana Lucic 6-1, 6-0 and will next meet Cibulkova.
"I just tried to stay solid and steady, play each point with full intensity," McHale said. "I think I'm improving my tennis, which is most important."
Canadian Rebecca Marino topped American Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4 in another match. She'll play No. 3 seed Marion Bartoli in the second round.
Taiwan's Kai-Chen Chang came back from an early deficit to beat American Hilary Barte 7-5, 6-4 in the late match.
Barte played at Stanford, winning the NCAA doubles title two years in a row. This was her second tournament as a professional.
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