Tennis: Don't cut Cibulkova short in grand slams

Dominika Cibulkova and coach Matej Liptak have formed a winning team. Photo / AP

Considering that she is only 1.60m tall, it might seem inappropriate to suggest that Dominika Cibulkova has grown with every match en route to the Australian Open final, but the 24-year-old Slovakian has ended the tournament with her stature in the game enhanced.

Cibulkova, the world No24, began the event having reached only one grand slam semifinal - at the 2009 French Open - and with a reputation as a player who was not quite good enough to live with the best. In the last fortnight, however, she has steamrollered four higher-ranked opponents in Carla Suarez Navarro, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska and dropped only one set in her six matches.

Having had several coaches in her career, she gives much of the credit to the present incumbent, Matej Liptak, who has been working with her for more than a year.

"I think I am more mature," Cibulkova said. "All my coaches have helped me a lot, but he's got to the stage that now I know that I have to do the right things. I want to do it. It's not a case of somebody pushing me to do something and I didn't understand why.

"Now I think he's working with a much more mature Domi. That's why all the things can come together."

Slovakia has produced some fine players, such as Miloslav Mecir and Daniela Hantuchova, but Cibulkova is aiming to become the first from her country to win a Grand Slam singles title. She would also be one of the smallest, but can take heart from other players of similar size who have enjoyed success.

Asked if she knew of Amanda Coetzer, the 1.57m South African who made the semifinals here in 1996 and 1997, Cibulkova said: "I think she was still playing when I started. I cannot say I was looking up to her, but I knew she was really little, that there are some players that can do it that are so little."

What Cibulkova lacks in height she more than makes up for with her ferocious will to win.

"I've had that since I was a little kid," she said. "When I play my best tennis, that's where you can see the power and the fight. You have to have something extra if you want to be one of the best tennis players and you are not the tallest."

Having said that, however, Cibulkova has a new racquet, like Roger Federer, and a new attacking approach, like that of the other Swiss, Stan Wawrinka, and she had a firm friend in Marion Bartoli, surprise victor at Wimbledon last year, telling her that unlikely victories were more than possible.

For all that, Li Na started the final as the warm favourite. The 31-year-old Chinese and world No4 has finished runner-up here twice, in 2011 and 2013, and over the last 12 months has added variety to her consistently effective baseline game.

- The Independent