The diminutive world No. 48 Cibulkova overpowered her more well-credentialed opponent, winning a tight first set tiebreaker before imposing her will on Croatia’s former French Open champion in the final set to take the match 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
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Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia reached the quarter-finals of the Toray Pan-Pacific Open on Thursday by beating sixth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-4.
However, that proved a false dawn for the world number 10 ” three times a finalist on Tour this year before her slump.
In the second set, Giorgi led 2-0, as the world number-12 Ivanovic vented her frustration. The set would stay on serve until Ivanovic secured a late break to take the opener.
Ivanovic ripped a forehand return victor down the line for triple set point in the 12th game today.
“Definitely I would prefer a match, especially having a tough match against her in the U.S. Open”, Ivanovic said. “I was really happy to stay composed at the end of the set because if you let her play she can play really well”. “I knew she would be unsafe so I’m happy I made it”.
The two have met recently.
The Spaniard’s form has totally deserted her in recent months, with first-round defeats at Wimbledon and the US Open falling into a run of seven straight defeats, which was snapped by Tuesday’s victory over Kateryna Bondarenko in Tokyo.
Fourth-seed Karolina Pliskova of France also advanced to the final eight on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Japan’s Kurumi Nara.
Though she hasn’t been higher than No.30 herself, Giorgi is 6-6 against Top 10 players, a tribute to the incredible upside to her power game, and something that always makes her a risky floater.
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The other quarterfinal matchups in Tokyo will see top-seed Caroline Wozniacki take on Angelique Kerber, and Garbine Muguruza face Belinda Bencic.
