China’s Na Rolls Cibulkova for 1st Australian Open Title

by Staff | January 25th, 2014

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China’s Li Na became the oldest winner at the Australian Open on Saturday when she overcame some first-set nerves to evantually steamroll first-time Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(3), 6-0 in Melbourne.

“I’m not old!” said the 31 yearold. “But yeah, at the start of the tournament everyone was talking about age. I would like to say age is nothing. You can still win a Grand Slam. I’m pretty happy about my age. I have experience.”

Her first win in her third Australian Open final adds to her breakthrough Slam win at the French Open.

“I prepared for this one a lot more [than the French],” she said. “Every round and every day I was thinking about what I should do every match. I prepared what I should do for the semis, again for the final — at the French I just went for it and didn’t think about winning or losing. This one, I was really wishing I could do well. And people might not know how hard I was working mentally to make this one.”

She improved to 5-0 career against Cibulkova, breaking early in the first set but giving it right back before rolling in the tiebreak and the second set.

Li lost in the 2011 Australian Open final to Kim Clijsters, and in the 2013 final to Victoria Azarenka.

Cibulkova became the first Slovak to reach a Slam final.

“These were just two fantastic weeks of my life — I think I’m going to cry,” Cibulkova said. “This means a lot for our country and I’m happy I can be the one who can be here for Slovakia. I’d also like to congratulate Li Na, she had a great tournament and deserved this.”

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Filed under: Australian Open, Tennis
Tags: Dominika Cibulkova, Li Na, Na Li

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6 Comments for China’s Na Rolls Cibulkova for 1st Australian Open Title

WTF Says:

Interest in WTA tennis must be really low when it took you guys almost 12 hours to report the result. Meanwhile for men’s matches it’s reported within minutes.

Maybe they don’t deserve equal pay if they aren’t providing equal entertainment/interest or revenue..

January 25th, 2014 at 2:11 pm

Teeg Says:

No doubt interest in women’s tennis is at an all-time low. I remember from about the mid to late 90s through to the mid 2000s, women’s tennis was rocking and generated about the same amount of interest as the men’s game. The rivalries fueled the sport. You had Hingis, Davenport, the Williamses, Capriati, Seles, Clijsters, Henin, Mauresmo, then came the emergence of the Russians – leading their charge was Sharapova, Myskina (remember her), Kuznetsova, and Dementieva. Between these women, they won 64 GS titles. That was a golden era. The women’s game was both compelling and fun to watch. The level of skill and talent just doesn’t seem to be there anymore.

January 25th, 2014 at 3:13 pm

M Says:

@WTF –

I’m thinking first of all how well your username suits you.

I’m also thinking you’re somehow confusing the site bloggers’ immediate publishing priorities with the interests of the reading community. There are lots of us out here who watched the WTA final and are very happy to read whatever coverage is available.

:-)

January 25th, 2014 at 9:54 pm

Polo Says:

Speak for yourself M.

January 25th, 2014 at 9:56 pm

WTF Says:

M, the staff update very quickly after a men’s match. They don’t even bother with the women’s, which I assume is because they didn’t watch it.

January 25th, 2014 at 11:31 pm

Joe W Says:

Wait until Serena retires. Unless Sloane Stephens steps up (awful big shoes to fill) viewership in the USA will really drop off. Serena pulls in a lot of fans who aren’t necessarily tennis fans. The folks who aren’t die hard tennis fans won’t want to follow a sport where all of the players have Russian or Eastern European last names. And the US has a weak pipeline of players. It’s too soon to say who the next American household name will be. We certainly don’t have ANYONE on the men’s side.

January 26th, 2014 at 10:37 pm