Dominika Cibulkova

Date of birth: May 6, 1989
Astrological Zodiac sign: Taurus
Age: 24

Dominika Cibulková, born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia, is a Slovak professional tennis player.She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her current and career-high ranking of World No. 16 was achieved on March 9, 2009.

Dominika began playing tennis between the ages of seven and nine and grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia. She can speak both Slovak and English.

She lists clay and hard as her favourite surfaces, and has thus far proved to be most proficient on a hard surface. She has named Kim Clijsters as the player she admires most. She became a professional tennis player in 2005, after having played one ITF event in Prague at the end of 2004.

Dominika competed predominantly on the ITF circuit from 2005 to 2006, and managed to win two tournaments: the Amarante, Portugal event in 2005, and the Bratislava event in 2006, where she was cheered on by the home crowd.

At the 2007 French Open she qualified and made her Grand Slam main draw debut, reaching the third round. In the second round she upset the No. 32 seed Martina Müller 6–3, 6–2 after beating Tiantian Sun 6–4, 6–4. She eventually lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. She has also reached the third round in Amelia Island, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues but losing to her countrywoman Daniela Hantuchová and the quarterfinals of the ECM Prague Open, beating Gisela Dulko before falling to Victoria Azarenka.

Dominika's best finish of 2007 came in September, when she exited at the semi-final stage at the Guangzhou International Women's Open in China. She lost to eventual champion Virginie Razzano 3–6, 6–1, 6–1.

Dominika's first tournament of 2008 was the Tier III Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6–1, 3–6, 6–3. The following week, Cibulková won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw of the Tier II Medibank International in Sydney, where she lost in the first round to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 3–6, 6–1, 7–6(6). At the Australian Open, Cibulková lost in the first round to Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6–4, 5–7, 6–4.

Playing for Slovakia in the first round of Fed Cup against the Czech Republic in Brno, Cibulková split her two singles matches as her country lost the tie 3–2.

In Paris at the Tier II Open Gaz de France, Cibulková lost in the second round to World No. 9 Marion Bartoli 7–5, 6–1. The following week at the Tier II Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Cibulková again lost in the second round, this time to Li Na 6–4, 6–3.

At the Qatar Total Open, Cibulková reached her first ever Tier I quarterfinal, defeating former World No. 1 Venus Williams in the third round 6–3, 6–3 before losing to sixteenth-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals 6–4, 6–7(1), 6–4.

At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Cibulková lost in the third round to World No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–1, 4–6, 6–3. The following fortnight at the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Cibulková lost in the third round to World No. 11 Elena Dementieva 6–0, 6–7(1), 6–4.

In April, Cibulková reached the final of a WTA Tour event for the first time. At the Tier II clay court Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, Cibulková lost in the final to the reigning Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova.

At the Tier I clay court Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Cibulková lost in the first round to fifteenth-seeded Alyona Bondarenko 6–4, 1–6, 7–6(9).

Cibulková was seeded 30th in singles at Wimbledon but lost in the first round to unseeded wildcard Zheng Jie of China 6–4, 6–3. In doubles, Cibulková partnered with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia and lost in the first round to Sorana Cîrstea and Monica Niculescu of Romania 6–1, retired.
Cibulkova at the 2008 US Open

At the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, Cibulková defeated fifth-seeded Dementieva in the second round and Nadia Petrova in the third round. In the quarterfinals, Cibulková defeated second-seeded Jelena Janković 7–5, 6–2 and delayed her replacement of Ana Ivanović as World No. 1. Cibulková then defeated tenth-seeded Bartoli in the semifinals 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 but lost to seventh-seeded Dinara Safina in the final.

At the Australian Open, Cibulkova advanced to the 4th round before losing to Elena Dementieva.

At the French Open, Cibulkova is seeded 20th. She defeated Alona Bondarenko in the first round and dominated Kirsten Flipkens in the second round 6-1 6-0. She then defeated Gisela Dulko to advance to the 4th round where she defeated Agnes Szavay to reach her first Grand Slam Quarterfinal. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Maria Sharapova in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-2. She will face Dinara Safina in her first Grand Slam semifinal.

She used to date French Player Gaël Monfils. She is currently dating another tennis player Juergen Melzer of Austria.

She has played in the Fed Cup for the Slovak Republic four years in a row from 2005 to 2008, holding a 5–9 win-loss record in both singles and doubles matches.

See also:  Athlete,  Tennis,  Slovak