Update 4:10 pm. Dominika Cibulkova is through to the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International after registering a 6-2 7-5 win against Italian Roberta Vinci.
The diminutive Slovak raced through the opening as Vinci could only land 38 per cent of first serves and Cibulkova dictated play from the baseline.
The Italian’s slice backhand was targeted throughout the match and despite both players lifting on serve in the second set, Cibulkova was first to break and opened up a 5-3 lead.
Vinci held to stay in the match and applied some pressure, breaking as Cibulkova attempted to serve it out at 5-4.
Cibulkova had won the pair’s only prior meeting in Monterrey, Mexico last year and there was to be no mistake second time around either, breaking to close out the second and the match, 7-5.
Cibulkova will now meet Petra Kvitova for a place in the semifinals after the tall Czech came from a set down in a battle of the lefties to beat Russian Ksenia Pervak.
Kvitova, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, looked sluggish early on against the scrambling Pervak, dropping the first 6-1.
Midway through the second set, Pervak took an injury time-out to have her upper thigh strapped and after Kvitova called for her coach, she began to find her range to take the second and third sets for a 1-6 6-4 6-2 victory.