Gavrilova Becomes Connecticut’s New Princess

By Bob Phillips                                                                                                                              Photos by Bill Harper

A happy Daria Gavrilova finally brings home the bacon, winning her first
WTA title, a come-from-behind victory over Dominika Cibulkova.

NEW HAVEN – Caroline Wozniacki didn’t play in New Haven this year. Former known in these parts as “Princess Caroline” or the “Queen of Connecticut,” Wozniacki had become a fixture at the Connecticut Open, winning the tournament four times* and winning the hearts of countless tennis fans in the Nutmeg State (not to mention the Yale football team who adopted her one year) throughout her impressive run.

But you know what? This year, Connecticut just may have found a new princess.

Daria Gavrilova, a relatively unheralded Australian (by way of Russia), ranked No. 26 in the world and unseeded in the tournament, bounced defending champion Agi Radwanska in the semifinals on Friday, then went on to defeat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a two -hour, forty-five-minute marathon before 4,911fans on a gorgeous late-summer afternoon at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University on Saturday. The match was also televised nationally on ESPN2.

Dominika Cibulkova, the No. 2 seed, gave it her all, but came up just
short losing 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 to unseeded Daria Gavrilova.

With the win over Cibulkova, one of the more explosive players on the WTA Tour in terms of getting to the ball, Gavrilova, the top-ranked player in Australia, defeated the tournament’s Nos. 1 (Radwanska) and 2 seeds on consecutive days. Cibulkova, the tournament's No. 2 seed, reached the high mark of her career in march when she reached No. 4 in the world after making back-to-back round of 16 appearances at Indian Wells and Miami earlier in the year.

This was the first-ever WTA Tour victory for the speedy, athletic Gavrilova. It was the second time this year she has reached a final (Strasbour), and the third time in her career she has done so – the first time being Moscow in 2016.

“It's even more special to win it that way, against such a tough competitor, [and in] the semifinal, beating a Top 10 player [Radwanska],” Gavrilova said. 

In doubles play, Yifan Xu of China and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada defeated the Aussie duo of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8. It was the second tournament win this year on the Tour for Xu and Dabrowski, who also won in Miami.

“We kept them under pressure the whole time to come up with the shots to beat us,” said Dabrowski. “The first set, they were beating us, but then [in] the second set, we had a few more chances, and I think that’s kind of what turned it around.”

As is always the case, the Connecticut Open finals are played a mere 40 hours before the start of the US Open–the crown jewel of American tennis.

For a full match report, click HERE.

—with staff reports

* Wozniacki and Venus Williams are the only two players ever to have won four times in New Haven. Both times it was done in four straight year.

THE SKINNY:

CONNECTICUT OPEN PRESENTED BY UNITED TECHNOLOGIES
20-26 AUGUST 20-26, 2017

PURSE: $776,000

 RESULTS - AUGUST 26, 2017
Women's Singles - Final
D. Gavrilova (AUS) d [2] D. Cibulkova (SVK) 46 63 64

Women's Doubles - Final
[4] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / Y. Xu (CHN) d [2] A. Barty (AUS) / C. Dellacqua (AUS) 36 63 10-8

2017 Connecticut Open Final Attendance
4,911

2017 Total Attendance: 50,599

2016 Total Attendance: 50,524

—with staff reports

* Wozniacki and Venus Williams are the only two players ever to have won four times in New Haven. Both times it was done in four straight year.