Top seeds Cibulkova, Zhang progress in Budapest
BUDAPEST, Hungary - The top two seeds at the Hungarian Ladies' Open got their campaigns off to a winning start on Wednesday, as Dominika Cibulkova and Zhang Shuai each won in straight sets to reach the second round.
No.1 seed Cibulkova defeated wildcard Fanny Stollar, 6-3, 6-3, while No.2 seed Zhang scored a 6-3, 6-2 win over qualifier Arina Rodionova
"On the forehand and backhand, I was really stable today," Cibulkova said after the match. "I'm not the tallest player on tour, but I'm trying to be as aggressive as I can because it's my only chance to be one of the best players in the world."
Cibulkova will next face good friend Kirsten Flipkens, who ousted Monica Niculescu 6-4, 7-5, while Zhang will face qualifier Jana Cepelova, who took out Carina Witthoeft, 6-2, 6-2.
"We know each other really well - we've played doubles together so many times, we've played matches against each other so many times," Cibulkova said. "She's playing a lot of slices and coming to the net. It'll be a different story from today."
While Stollar wasn't able to score an upset in front of her home crowd, Hungarian No.1 and defending champion Timea Babos enjoyed smooth sailing into the second round, dropping just one game against Tatjana Maria
While Cibulkova and Zhang both scored wins in their first round matches, seeded players weren't as fortunate in the second round, as both No.5 seed Mihaela Buzarnescu and No.6 seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich
Buzarnescu was soundly defeated by former French Open quarterfinalist Alison van Uytvanck, 6-1, 6-0, while Petra Martic
Lucky loser Viktoria Kuzmova also kept her run going into the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sabine Lisicki.
