At the 2016 WTA Finals, second seed Agnieszka Radwańska arrived at the WTA Finals hoping to defend the title she won 12 months previously.
Unfortunately for fans of the Pole, she was unable to do so, losing to top seed Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals.
Kerber, a two-time Wimbledon champion, faced seventh seed Dominika Cibulkova in the final.
Cibulkova was very close to not qualifying for the WTA Finals: she won the Linz Open a week before the WTA Finals were due to start, securing her a qualifying spot.
Despite her low ranking, Cibulkova defied the odds and walked away from London with the trophy.
Dominika Cibulkova’s 2016 WTA Finals triumph
At one point during the 2016 WTA Finals, it seemed unlikely that Dominika Cibulkova would advance past the group stage, let alone win the entire tournament.
In her first match, Cibulkova lost to top seed Angelique Kerber: 6-7, 6-2, 3-6. She then lost to American star Madison Keys 1-6, 4-6.
However, Cibulkova rescued her tournament in her final group stage match, defeating third seed Simona Halep 6-3, 7-6.
At the end of the group stage, Kerber had a perfect 3-0 record, while Halep, Keys and Cibulkova all had a 1-2 record.
Cibulkova advanced to the semi-finals, as she had a 3-4 set record during the group stage. Halep and Keys both had a 2-4 set record.
In the semi-finals Cibulkova defeated eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Cibulkova had set up a rematch against Angelique Kerber in the final, and the Slovak avenged her group stage loss, defeating Kerber 6-3, 6-4.
By winning the 2016 WTA Finals, Cibulkova became only the fourth player to win the tournament on debut, after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004, and Petra Kvitová in 2011.
Cibulkova retired in 2019
Dominika Cibulkova won eight WTA Tour titles during her 15-year career on the WTA Tour.
The Slovak never won a Grand Slam singles title, but did reach the 2014 Australian Open final, losing to China’s Li Na in the final.
Cibulkova, who reached the French Open semi-finals in 2009 and made three Wimbledon quarter-final appearances, achieved a career-high ranking of world number four in 2017.
In 2009, Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty won the Hopman Cup for Slovakia – the country’s second title of that decade after their triumph in 2005.
