KÖRMÖCZY COURT (starts 3pm)
[1] Kirsten FLIPKENS (BEL) / Johanna LARSSON (SWE) vs Irina BARA (ROU) / Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)
Not before 5pm
[1] Dominika CIBULKOVA (SVK) vs Mona BARTHEL (GER)
[LL] Viktoria KUZMOVA (SVK) vs Alison VAN UYTVANCK (BEL)
MATCH POINTS
This is the sixth tournament Dominika Cibulkova has entered as No.1 seed - and on all previous occasions, the Slovak has either lost her opening match or reached the final. She lost in the first round of Québec City in 2012 to Kirsten Flipkens, the second round of Moscow in 2014 to Vitalia Diatchenko and the first round of 's-Hertogenbosch last year to Antonia Lottner; but was runner-up in Kuala Lumpur to Donna Vekic in 2014, and lifted the trophy in Acapulco that year.
Viktoria Kuzmova, who lost in the final round of qualifying to Ysaline Bonaventure before Kristyna Pliskova's withdrawal allowed her into the main draw, is bidding to become the first lucky loser to reach a final since CoCo Vandeweghe at Stanford in 2012.
If Dominika Cibulkova and Viktoria Kuzmova both win their semifinals, they will set up the second all-Slovak final in WTA history following Pattaya in 2003, when Henrieta Nagyova defeated Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-4, 6-2 to win the last of her nine titles.
Alison Van Uytvanck will bid to make her second career final today following her title run at Québec City last year. The Belgian has a 1-4 record in WTA semifinals to date. Mona Barthel will seek to make her eighth career final, and first since her title run in Prague last May, while Dominika Cibulkova is looking to make her 20th final. The Slovak is still searching for her first title since lifting the 2016 WTA Finals trophy. Viktoria Kuzmova, playing her maiden semifinal today, has never previously reached a final above ITF $25,000 level.
19-year-old Viktoria Kuzmova is the first teenage semifinalist of 2018, and is seeking to become the first teenager to play a WTA final since Aryna Sabalenka in Tianjin last October.
Both semifinals today are first meetings for both pairs of opponents.
