Analysis for Sharapova-Cibulkova (WTA French Open)

Head-to-head record 2:0

Slovak young star Dominika Cibulkova will play regenerate Maria Sharapova. Russian star came back after the long lasting shoulder injury in Warsaw just a few days before French Open 09. At the Warsaw Open, Sharapova defeated Tathiana Garbin in the first round, Darya Kustova in the second round and lost to eighth seeded Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals. The 2009 French Open is her first Grand Slam tournament since the Wimbledon 2008. Unseeded at 2009 French Open she defeated Anastasiya Yakimova in the first round, fellow Russian Nadia Petrova in the second round, and Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round, all in three sets. Her opponent in the 4th round was Na Li, whom she beat in 3 sets again. Her latest results are not impressive at all. Sharapova is a power baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. Sharapova's shoulder injury making her miss parts of the season also took effect on her playing style. As now she uses a more abbreviated lift up serve rather than a swing. However in the results she has made during her comeback it has been seen that the only big change is the serve. Because she predicates her game on power, Sharapova's preferred surfaces are the fast-playing hard and grass courts, and not as well-suited to the slower-playing clay courts. Sharapova has admitted that she is not as comfortable with her movement on clay compared with other court surfaces and once described herself as like a "cow on ice" after a match on clay. Her limitations on this surface are reflected in her career results. The French Open is the only Grand Slam singles title she has not yet won. She will play talented Slovak who feels well on the slowest surface. Cibulkova is a former World No. 3 at the junior level. There is a bright future ahead of her without any doubts and she still keeps on improving. At the French Open, Cibulkova is seeded 20th. She defeated Alona Bondarenko in the first round and dominated Kirsten Flipkens in the second round 6-1 6-0. She then defeated Gisela Dulko to advance to the 4th round where she defeated Agnes Szavay to reach her first Grand Slam Quarterfinal. If she plays her best, this doesn’t have to be the final station for her and she is a slight favourite for us. Anything above 2 is worth trying for us.