Cibulkova sends Konta crashing out at Wimbledon

LONDON, Great Britain - Dominika Cibulkova stunned home favorite Johanna Konta in a dominant, straight sets performance to reach the third round and record her 20th main draw win at Wimbledon.

A year ago, Konta lifted home hopes when she became the first British woman since Virginia Wade in 1978 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon. But this time, the No.22 seed couldn’t recreate the same magic, falling to the unseeded Cibulkova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

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“When she's playing well, I think she goes for her shots,” Konta said of her opponent. “She looks to dictate. When she's playing well, she plays incredibly freely. She was hitting winners from five meters behind the baseline kind of thing.

“She was obviously seeing the ball very well and feeling very good in the way she wanted to play. I found it very difficult to really get a foothold into the match. That was a lot to do with how she played.”

She added, “I don't compare [my game] with a year ago. I'm in a different place with different challenges… I’m not living in the past.”

Just one break of serve made the difference in a match played on fine margins. Cibulkova employed her brand of aggressive, fast tennis to keep the Brit on the back foot, doggedly retrieving everything that Konta sent her way. Her strong serving put the pressure firmly on her opponent, drawing the errors from Konta’s racquet.

Cibulkova grabbed the break at 4-2 in the first set, and she didn’t face a single break point all set long. In the second, Cibulkova got off to an early lead at 2-1, and dodged a handful of break chances three games later to maintain the advantage.

The Slovakian player needed five match points to close it out as Konta made a determined effort to extend her stay in the set at 5-3, but a strong unreturnable sealed the match for Cibulkova after an hour and 20 minutes, extending her second-round record at Wimbledon to an impeccable 8-0.

Cibulkova, a former quarterfinalist here in 2016, plays No.15 seed Elise Mertens next - the Belgian is through to the third round for the first time after easing past Sachia Vickery 6-1, 6-3 earlier in the day.