Cibulkova overcomes home favorite Hibino in Tokyo thriller

TOKYO, Japan - The unseeded Dominika Cibulkova was forced to work hard to overcome the dogged qualifier Nao Hibino - and her passionate crowd support - at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, coming through the first-round tilt 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 after two hours and 13 minutes of enthralling tennis.

Last year, it was the Slovak who had been on the verge of pulling off an upset in Tokyo when she held two match points against Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals - but the Dane would save both and, after Cibulkova was then forced to retire in the third set, then went on to take her first title of 2017. This time, it was the World No.30 who had to fend off the challenge of a determined lower-ranked player.

The first set gave little indication of the drama to come. After both players saved a break point in their opening service games - Cibulkova coming through four deuces and Hibino two - it was largely one-way traffic for the Slovak. She would concede just two further points behind her delivery while converting her first break point in each of the World No.130's next two service games en route to a 6-1 scoreline.

Thus far, Hibino had been unable to match the 2016 WTA Finals champion's intensity, particularly on big points and in extended rallies, and had frequently been beaten by Cibulkova's sheer pace. But the 23-year-old, buoyed by an enthusiastic home crowd, began to display some tenacity of her own in the second set.

The 2015 Tashkent champion began to find her length on her topspin forehand, pinning Cibulkova behind the baseline and forcing the former World No.5 to take greater risks in an effort to maintain her aggressive stance. Nonetheless, after another pair of epic service holds - again with each player saving one break point - in the middle of the set, it was the 2016 Australian Open runner-up who then struck to move up a break, having seemingly navigated her way through the danger zone.

But Hibino hit back immediately, breaking to love to level the score at 3-3 - and now, the Japanese No.3 was beginning to see and take opportunities on offence as well, flashing winners on the run at full stretch, timing her returns impeccably and sneaking into net whenever she had the chance. With Cibulkova serving at 5-6, Hibino carved out two break points - and though a dead net cord would stave off the first, the Wimbledon quarterfinalist would not be so lucky on the second, sending a backhand long to set up a decider.

Hibino continued her rich vein of form at the start of the third set, the four-time WTA finalist coming up with brilliant plays such as a serve-and-volley to hold her opening game and a reflex dropshot-volley combination two games later. In total, the former World No.56 would have a perfectly even ratio of 30 winners to 30 unforced errors - but despite reaching 30 in each of her opponent's service games in the last set, it was Cibulkova who ultimately proved more clutch.

Despite being pushed on serve, the Budapest and Strasbourg finalist would avoid facing a break point against her - and when a Hibino double fault gave her a sniff of a chance in the seventh game, Cibulkova pounced, hammering a mid-court forehand to gain the advantage once again. Serving to stay in the match, the qualifier's resistance crumbled, ending the match by pushing a one-two punch long and then shanking a forehand wide.

The high-quality encounter against an opponent with the crowd firmly behind her will have prepared Cibulkova well for her next formidable test: a second-round tilt against brand new US Open champion and Japanese heroine Naomi Osaka.

Elsewhere, last year's runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova came through a tightly contested first-rounder 6-3, 6-4 over Aliaksandra Sasnovich, breaking the Belarusian twice in the first set and once in the second; and Daria Gavrilova came out on top of a tw-hour, 53-minute epic 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(8) over wildcard Kristyna Pliskova. Next up for Pavlyuchenkova is No.2 seed Caroline Garcia - while, having slain one Pliskova twin, Gavrilova will now take on the other in No.4 seed Karolina.

Rounding out the first day's victors were Anett Kontaveit, who defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 7-6(5), and Camila Giorgi, who needed just one hour and five minutes to dismiss qualifier Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-1.