Cibulkova defeated Radwanska to win at Stanford

 

STANFORD, Calif.  - Slovak Dominika Cibulkova not just won the game against Agnieszka Radwanska, she won the tournament. Cibulkova avenged her one of the worst losses ever in a WTA Tour final, rallying to beat Radwanska 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the Bank of the West Classic final Sunday.

7 months after she failed to win a single game against Radwanska in the Sydney final, Cibulkova came out aggressive and put the top-seeded Radwanska on the run. Cibulkova, seeded third, overcame two service breaks in the final set - both on double-faults - before winning the final four games.

"The difference between Sydney and today was that I made the first game. And after the first game I looked at my coach and was like, 'Here we go. I'm out here, and it's going to be good today," she said.

The victory gave Cibulkova her third career singles title and first win against Radwanska in four tries. She is 3-5 in WTA finals and is projected to rise from 25th to 21st in the rankings. Radwanska, ranked No. 4 in the world, fell to 12-5 in WTA finals.

Top seed Catherine "CiCi" Bellis wins USTA girls title

Top-seeded Catherine "CiCi" Bellis became the second-youngest player to win the United States Tennis Association's 16 Girls Clay Court Championships, downing second-seeded Katerina Stewart 7-5, 6-1 at the Virginia Beach Tennis & Country Club.

Julie Shiflet is believed to be the only champion younger than Bellis, who turned 14 in April.

In the finals were the top and 2nd seed are against each other, Stewart looked stronger in the early rounds. After Bellis took a 2-0 lead in the opening set, Stewart won the next four games.

Then Bellis found her rythm and won 11 of the final 13 games and in the process did not drop a single set in seven tournament matches.

Roger Federer beat Jan Hajek reached German Tennis Championship quarterfinals

HAMBURG, Germany — Top-seeded Roger Federer beat Czech qualifier Jan Hajek easily 6-4, 6-3 to reach the German Tennis Championships quarterfinals on Thursday.

The four-time Hamburg champion is playing his first tournament since losing in the second round of Wimbledon.

Roger used only three of 13 break points and needed six match points to close out the match. He did it with his seventh ace, shortly after producing a spectacular overhead smash winner with a flick of the wrist while stepping back in the final game.

Federer has dropped to No. 5, his lowest ranking in a decade. He will next play either Florian Mayer of Germany or Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

Martina Hingis inducted 2013 Tennis Hall of Fame class

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Martina Hingis became one of the youngest players to be enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She led a large 2013 class that was inducted Saturday during an on-court ceremony that lasted just over 90 minutes.

She was born in Czechoslovakia before moving to Switzerland at a young age, Hingis was named after a women's tennis great.

"My biggest influence was my mom because she was a professional player, too," Hingis said during an interview. "She started me when I was 2 years old. Another was Martina Navratilova, obviously — (my mom) gave me the name so that was the destiny that was programed already. When I started playing at 2 years old, that was the path."

Hingis is the fourth youngest to be inducted, behind Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32).

Hingis 32, burst onto the professional Tennis when she was still 14. After two years, she won three of the four major tournaments, taking the titles at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in 1997.

The memories were great. The pictures of a thin teenager, well, she'll pass on those.

Martina won five Grand Slam singles championships — including three straight at the Australian Open from 1997-99 — and 43 singles titles overall. She also was a part of 37 doubles titles.

Hingis, often troubled by foot injuries, retired for a second time in 2007, when she drew a two-year suspension for testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon. Hingis denied taking the drug but did not appeal the ruling.

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon, first British man to win Wimbledon for 77 years

Andy Murray knocked off top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to win Wimbledon. He is the first British man to win Wimbledon for 77 years, since Fred Perry won the last of three in a row in 1936.

"I still can't believe it," Murray said a couple of hours after sending the Kingdom into collective delirium. "Can't get my head around that."

Djokovic remains No. 1 in the rankings.

Serena Williams ousted from Wimbledon by Sabine Lisicki

London - Serena Williams has joined the list of marquee names eliminated early at this wild and unpredictable Wimbledon.

World No.1, defending champion, and five-time Wimbledon winner Serena Williams was defeated by 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday, becoming the latest tennis giant to make a surprise exit from the tournament. It also ended Williams' career-best 34-match winning streak.

Williams join second seed Victoria Azarenka and world number three Maria Sharapova out of the women's tournament, while defending champion Roger Federer and two-time Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal suffered shock exits from the men's draw in the first week.

"I probably couldn't be more disappointed," Williams said. "I think I may have backed off of a success. I was playing something successful. I didn't continue that path. The result didn't go the way it could have gone had I continued to play the way I did in the second set."