Both players argued with the umpire during a pivotal game in the match. It was 4-5, 0-30 with Hsieh serving when Cibulkova's return was called long and she correctly challenged. Although Hsieh had returned the ball back into court, the umpire gave the point to Cibulkova. Hsieh argued with the decision, calling the supervisor, and eventually got a replay. But then it was Cibulkova who began arguing, saying the umpire should stick to her call.
"I don't want to talk about it because I would get really upset and angry about that, because it was ridiculous what happened there," Cibulkova said. "It never happened to me in my career that this would happen. Just a player is complaining. Sometimes I'm also complaining because I think it was a wrong call. But it never happened to me that the umpire changed the decision. It was really ridiculous for me."
But Hsieh did not agree. "For me is really normal. You always have some argument or something happen on the court, and I know if I don't go and talk to her and fight for this point it's 0-40," she said, though she wouldn't criticize Cibulkova for not giving her the replay.
The 29-year-old Cibulkova is a former Australian Open finalist, and has also reached the semis at the French Open and the quarterfinals at the US Open. The No. 33 was dropped from the seedings when Serena Williams was given a special No. 25 seeding, which Cilbulkova has criticized.
But she has also been winning, and says it's important to keep improving mentally.
"When I get in this mood, when I do it, this is when I can play my best tennis.”
She will play against the 21-year-old Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals.
“I’ve played her before," said Cibulkova. "She won a Grand Slam [the 2017 French Open], so she been on the big stages before. She won a Grand Slam, so she knows what it takes. In this tournament, she seems to be in the right mood. She's playing aggressive. She's playing with no fear. She’s just going for it. I think it's going to be a match with a lot of rallies, aggressive rallies, a lot of winners.”