Today, kudos are due to Dominika Cibulkova, the Slovakian terrier who packs a punch and survived her latest encounter with world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in Sunday's Stanford final, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Of course, this came on the heels of Cibulkova's desultory and embarrassing 6-0, 6-0 loss to the same player in the Sydney final in January. What a difference eight months makes, perhaps—and it was her first victory in four tries against the Pole.
The Spin has long had a "Domi" crush insofar as her ballstriking but also her off-court ways go. She's not afraid to push the envelope (see this Dunlop advert), and she's super-tough in the face of major pain (remember those Fed Cup muscle spams?). Still, she's a self-defined party girl—and for that reason also, she wins a spot among the Spin's favorite pros, especially for the vivacious personality she exudes in this clip, by now an oldie but a goodie: