Dominika Cibulkova cruises into third round at Hobart International

14 January 2016 02:23

Third seed Dominika Cibulkova cruised past 17-year-old Australian Kimberly Birrell 6-1 6-0 in the second round of the WTA Hobart International on Wednesday.

The world number 37 from Slovakia needed just 48 minutes as she proved far too strong for her shell-shocked young opponent, who was blown away after managing to hold her opening serve.

"I was playing aggressive and didn't let her play," Cibulkova said on www.hobartinternational.com.au. "Today was just a perfect match for me."

The 2014 Australian Open runner-up will face Kiki Bertens in the quarter-finals, the Dutch qualifier having thrashed Germany's Annika Beck 6-3 6-1 in round two.

Great Britain's Heather Watson responded well after losing the first set on a tie-break against Monica Niculescu, winning the second set convincingly and storming into a 3-0 lead in the decider, but her bid for a comeback victory was held up by rain.

The Guernsey-born 23-year-old was 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 3-1 up on the Romanian fourth seed when rain ended the evening's play, meaning the second-round encounter will conclude on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, ninth-seeded German Mona Barthel got past Japan's Naomi Osaka 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 - despite a lower-back injury - to line up a last-eight meeting with seventh seed Alize Cornet of France.

Source: PA