Caroline Garcia vs Dominika Cibulkova Tennis Prediction
That pair met two more times since then, and it is the Frenchwoman who has come on top, 2017 Wuhan and 2018 Doha. Considering that the Slovak doesn’t have a lot of match-play, Garcia should be able to start her Madrid campaign with a win over Cibulkova.
Caroline Garcia News
Caroline Garcia stormed into the semifinal of a clay Premier tournament for the first time in her career at Stuttgart, by dispatching the three-times former champion Maria Sharapova (her first win over the Russian in the fifth attempt) and world #4 Elina Svitolina.
The top-ranked French player has not reached a final since she swept Wuhan and Beijing at the tail-end of 2017. The Stuttgart run was only the second time in the season that Garcia has won more than two matches in a row (fourth round at Australian Open).
Garcia has fond memories of the Madrid, going back to 2014 when she debuted as a qualifier and stormed into the quarterfinal, defeating #8 Kerber, #35 Kirilenko and #11 Errani. She eventually lost to third seed Radwanska in a three-setter.
Dominika Cibulkova News
Former world #4 Dominika Cibulkova has not won a match since her runner-up finish at the indoor tournament of Budapest (l. to Van Uytvanck). In fact, she has played just two matches since February, at Indian Wells (l. to Dolehide) and Rabat (l. to Hercog).
It looks ominous for the 2016 WTA Finals champion who is sitting just outside top 50 in the WTA Race, as the season moves into the fifth month. The Slovak doesn’t have a lot of points to defend on clay as she went 2/3 during this part of the season in 2017.
Cibulkova reached the finals of Madrid two years ago in 2016 (l. to Halep), as her first clay WTA final since 2012 Barcelona. During that run, Cibulkova met Garcia for the first time (def. 0-6 6-3 6-4).
Tennis Prediction: Caroline Garcia
Odds: 1.43
