By Simon Cambers
MELBOURNE Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:15am EST
Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia watches the ball as she hits a return to Li Na of China during their women's singles final match at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 25, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Petar Kujundzic
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova is confident she can win a grand slam title one day as her run to the Australian Open final showed she can adapt her game to all surfaces.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>The 24-year-old, the first Slovakian woman to reach a grand slam singles final, was beaten 7-6(3) 6-0 by China's Li Na in the final on Saturday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>But having taken Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska out en route, the 20th seed said she was knocking on the door.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"I'm 24 years old and I have already played in a grand slam final," she told reporters. "I feel like my game is there to challenge the biggest names and to beat them, so why not (win a grand slam)?
<span id="midArticle_4"/>"When you play a grand slam final, it's a big step. I'm ready to take it. I was waiting for this for a long time. Now I want to do 100 percent to keep it up.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"It changes the way you see yourself. Now I know I'm 100 percent sure I can do it. I get so much confidence from this tournament.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"I don't want to see it as a pressure. I want to keep going like that. I already did well before at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, so I can play on every surface."
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Cibulkova looked a little tight early on but after falling an early break down at 3-1, she leveled at 4-4.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>With Li making uncharacteristic mistakes on her forehand, Cibulkova saved a breakpoint to lead 5-4 and even when she was broken for 6-5, she hit right back to force a tiebreak.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>But former French Open champion Li, the fourth seed, lifted her game to win the tiebreak 7-3 and then eased through the second set to clinch the title.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Cibulkova said Li's greater weight of shot made the difference.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>"She was the one who was dictating the game," she said. "My serve wasn't really working, so she could push me from the first balls and I was under pressure all the time.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>"Sometimes I caught myself running one meter behind the baseline. That's not how I play. This is why she was better."
<span id="midArticle_13"/>Cibulkova said the disappointment of not making more history for her country was outweighed by her efforts over the past two weeks.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>"Maybe tomorrow morning I will be 100 percent proud of myself," she said, with a smile. "But now it's just maybe like 50 percent.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>"It was my first grand slam final and I'm just proud with the way I handled it.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>"I wanted to play my best tennis (but) it wasn't easy against her because she was playing extremely well. So I'm quite happy."
<span id="midArticle_1"/>(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
<span id="midArticle_2"/>
MELBOURNE Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:15am EST
Credit: Reuters/Petar Kujundzic
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova is confident she can win a grand slam title one day as her run to the Australian Open final showed she can adapt her game to all surfaces.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>The 24-year-old, the first Slovakian woman to reach a grand slam singles final, was beaten 7-6(3) 6-0 by China's Li Na in the final on Saturday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>But having taken Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska out en route, the 20th seed said she was knocking on the door.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"I'm 24 years old and I have already played in a grand slam final," she told reporters. "I feel like my game is there to challenge the biggest names and to beat them, so why not (win a grand slam)?
<span id="midArticle_4"/>"When you play a grand slam final, it's a big step. I'm ready to take it. I was waiting for this for a long time. Now I want to do 100 percent to keep it up.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"It changes the way you see yourself. Now I know I'm 100 percent sure I can do it. I get so much confidence from this tournament.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"I don't want to see it as a pressure. I want to keep going like that. I already did well before at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, so I can play on every surface."
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Cibulkova looked a little tight early on but after falling an early break down at 3-1, she leveled at 4-4.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>With Li making uncharacteristic mistakes on her forehand, Cibulkova saved a breakpoint to lead 5-4 and even when she was broken for 6-5, she hit right back to force a tiebreak.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>But former French Open champion Li, the fourth seed, lifted her game to win the tiebreak 7-3 and then eased through the second set to clinch the title.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Cibulkova said Li's greater weight of shot made the difference.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>"She was the one who was dictating the game," she said. "My serve wasn't really working, so she could push me from the first balls and I was under pressure all the time.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>"Sometimes I caught myself running one meter behind the baseline. That's not how I play. This is why she was better."
<span id="midArticle_13"/>Cibulkova said the disappointment of not making more history for her country was outweighed by her efforts over the past two weeks.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>"Maybe tomorrow morning I will be 100 percent proud of myself," she said, with a smile. "But now it's just maybe like 50 percent.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>"It was my first grand slam final and I'm just proud with the way I handled it.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>"I wanted to play my best tennis (but) it wasn't easy against her because she was playing extremely well. So I'm quite happy."
<span id="midArticle_1"/>(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
<span id="midArticle_2"/>
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