Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova pulled off a stunning upset to defeat Germany’s Angelique Kerber and win the WTA Finals on Sunday, beating the newly crowned World No. 1 6-3, 6-4.
Cibulkova, runner-up in the 2014 Australian Open, turned the tables on Kerber just a week after losing to her in the round-robin stage and captured the biggest title of her career. Cibulkova was facing an early exit when she lost her first two round-robin matches.
But she won her last three matches to receive the Billie Jean King Trophy and a cheque for $2.05 million, the biggest payday of her life.
Meanwhile, Sania Mirza retained her numero uno status in women’s doubles for the second consecutive year, despite failing to defend the title with partner Martina Hingis. Sania and Hingis had lost to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the semifinals on Saturday.
“I am very happy. It’s an amazing honour to be No. 1 for the second year. It has been an amazing journey for me,” Sania said.
The results: Singles, final: Dominika Cibulkova bt Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4. Semifinals: Angelique Kerber bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-1; Dominika Cibulkova bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. Doubles, final: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova 7-5(5), 6-3. Semifinals: Makarova & Vesnina bt Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza 3-6, 6-2, [10-6]; Mattek-Sands & Safarova bt Caroline Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 7-5.
