ody, turning the very talented Oliver Ekmann-Larsson

The WTA Finals ended on an appropriate, if not entirely satisfying, note Sunday in Singapore. Pulled to her right by Angelique Kerbers so-so forehand, Dominika Cibulkova stepped over, adjusted to an extreme western grip and laid into a cross-court forehand. When the ball smacked the net tape, it had enough spin to crawl over and die on Kerbers side of the net.Due largely to the mental yips, Cibulkova had failed to convert three previous match points. But serendipity earned her the fourth, and a 6-3, 6-4 upset of top-ranked Kerber in 1 hour, 16 minutes. It ended the official WTA tournament year on a surprising note.I have no words, the elated winner chirped in her on-court interview afterward.She wasnt the only one.Kerber stood by, eyes glazed, through the trophy presentation. It seemed that her mind seemed a million miles away, which was not a bad place to go under the circumstances.Granted, Cibulkova played exceptionally well in the final, while Kerber never got a handle on her game. On the other hand, its fair to wonder what on earth Cibulkova was doing playing in the final. The details constitute a pretty strong case against the hybrid round-robin/knockout format, which will also be employed by the ATP in a few weeks at its own year-end shootout.Lets set the table: Cibulkova, who will rise to No. 5 on Monday, is a useful player. A pugnacious, energetic, 27-year-old Slovak, she has been to the quarterfinals at every Grand Slam event. She has played in one major final, losing the 2014 Australian Open title match against Li Na. Cibulkova rode that achievement into the top 10 but soon after went into a terrible slump.Consistency and loss of nerve have always been Cibulkovas bugaboos, and those are precisely the qualities that separate Grand Slam champions from the puzzling contenders and also-rans. You have to win seven consecutive matches over two weeks against a (presumably) escalating class of player to triumph at a major. Its a monumental ask.Round-robin based events allow a player with a loss, or even two (as weve seen for the second year in a row in Singapore), to win the championship. Kerbers record in this weeks WTA Finals?was 4-1; Cibulkova finished 3-2, but shes the champ. It turns the most fundamental premise in tennis upside down.You have to take a close look at Cibulkovas run to really appreciate all the irony in this scenario. Kerber bested Cibulkova in the first round-robin match for either player. Then Madison Keys crushed Cibulkova, giving up just five games. With the first two rounds of the round robin complete, winless Cibulkovas path to qualifying for the knockout stage was barely more than a mathematical oddity. She had to beat WTA No. 4 Simona Halep in straight sets and Kerber had to beat Keys in straights as well.After Cibulkova did her part with a win against Halep, she wouldnt even watch or track the Kerber-Keys match on a live-scoring module. She went shopping and, as she told the press before the final, got the news that she had qualified when she returned to the hotel: I started to get messages like, Congratulations, you are there! We were just jumping and really, really happy.Playing with house money against Kerber, Cibulkova hit the jackpot: She put 83 percent of her first serves into play, and her winners-to-unforced errors stats were nearly a reverse image of Kerbers. Cibulkova had 28 winners to 14 unforced, while Kerber had 14 and 23, respectively.Furthermore, Cibulkova created an interesting template for how to play the top-ranked player. She served predominantly down the middle, keeping Kerber from taking charge with her return. When returning, Cibulkova went after Kerbers weakness, her second serve. Cibulkova played from on or inside the baseline, took time away from Kerber, found the angles and kept the ball deep. Well see more women trying to implement those tactics come January.Its no wonder Kerber looked so disenchanted after the match. When the players tell the media that they take all their rivals seriously, theyre just reciting from the media-training handbook. A player who wins has every right not to want to go back out and play the person she has just defeated again, for even greater stakes.It wasnt easy, after two losses to play Halep, Cibulkova said. First two matches I was a little unlucky. Today I was lucky.It might have been the understatement of the week. Penguins Jerseys 2019 .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Penguins Jerseys 2020 . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/ . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Cheap Penguins Jerseys .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Wholesale Penguins Jerseys . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set.TSN.cas 2013 Play of the Year Showdown marches forward with two incredible plays that left defencemen dizzy and out of position. Shawn Matthias of the Florida Panthers makes his second appearance of the POY, and is joined by Chicago Blackhawks star forward Jonathan Toews as these two energetic forwards try to strong-arm their way to a POY title. Shawn Matthias second entry in the 2013 POY combines speed, creativity and a very good head fake. Matthias streaks through the neutral zone with speed, approaches Winnipegs blue line and does a little one-handed shake n bake, dusting a tangled Mark Stuart, and finishing it all off with a gorgeous snipe on Ondrej Pavelec. Toews 2013 POY nomination is a clever, quick and strong move that really demonstrates why Toews is such a dominant player on the ice. Toews gathers speed as his zips towards the Phoenix Coyotes blue line. Just as he crosses it, he gives a quick head fake, and pulls the puck out and across his body, turning the very talented Oliver Ekmann-Larsson inside out.dddddddddddd Toews then rips a tricky wrist-shot that beats a stunned Mike Smith. You can watch the highlights and make your decision here (http://poy.tsn.ca). Every vote counts so watch all the plays and take part in the TSN.ca Play of the Year Showdown. Player facts: - Matthias played for Canada at the 2008 World Juniors in Ottawa, where he and his teammates captured the gold medal on home soil- Toews led the entire NHL in even-strength goals during the 2012-13 season with 19 (a very impressive accomplishment in todays NHL). He also led the 2010-11 Chicago Blackhawks in scoring with 76 points. Fun facts: - A late-round pick in the OHL priority draft, Matthias surprised everyone when he made the Belleville Bulls starting roster as an under-aged player. - After the Blackhawks won the 2010-11 Stanley Cup, Toews took the Cup back to his hometown of Winnipeg where the Province of Manitoba announced that they would be naming a lake named after the young star, called Toews Lake. ' ' '