Dominika Cibulkova makes impressive run into Eastbourne final

Qualifier Monica Puig's attempt to reach the final of the Eastbourne International came crashing down on Friday when she was dominated by Dominika Cibulkova in England.

Cibulkova rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 trouncing of Puig, the Puerto Rican who had played superbly this week. The 12th-seeded Slovakian will face 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova in the championship match.

Making Cibulkova's performance doubly impressive is that she first had to complete her rain-interrupted quarterfinal match with Agnieszka Radwanska. The top-seeded Radwanska led 6-4, 2-0 when the match was postponed and Cibulkova dominated after the resumption of play for a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory.

"I would say this is my best day on a grass court," Cibulkova said afterwards. "I'm extremely happy -- I'm playing so well. (Puig) was really tough to play against because she's playing completely different tennis to Radwanska. She played well today but I was just better."

Pliskova advanced by knocking off Great Britain's Johanna Konta 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3. The Czech recovered from the first-set loss to take a 3-1 lead in the second set en route to knocking off the No. 11 seed.

Nottingham Open

Second-seeded Pablo Cuevas will play in the first grass-court final of his 12-year career after dispatching eighth-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the semifinals of the Nottingham Open in England.

Cuevas, from Uruguay, will face sixth-seeded American Steve Johnson in the title match.

"I'm so happy to reach my first final on grass," Cuevas said afterward. "I have played every match with more confidence and today I beat an excellent player on grass. Hopefully tomorrow I will enjoy it, too."

The sixth-seeded Johnson completed a darkness-suspended 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over top-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa before delivering a 6-4, 6-4 semifinal victory over seventh-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy.