Across the last two weeks of December, Baseline will dish out awards for the greatest acts of 2018.

When the idea of granting Serena Williams a place among the seeds at this year’s Wimbledon—despite her triple-digit ranking—started brewing, one player’s voice stood out among the rest in dissent as she would be forced out into the wild of the draw.

World No. 32 Dominika Cibulkova felt she earned her spot and was reluctant to cede it. The decision was taken out of her hands, though, as the All England Club did make the seven-time champion the 18th seed, leaving the Slovak on the outside looking in.

Instead of letting the decision hurt her chances, Cibulkova came out with extra motivation to put on her best Grand Slam performance in two years.

The former world No. 4 advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the third time in her career, and didn’t lose a set at all during the first week. She defeated the French veteran Alize Cornet in the first round, then topped British hopeful Johanna Konta, the No. 22 seed, in the second.

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Next up was Elise Mertens, the No. 12 seed and one of the breakout stars of the year, whom Cibulkova only dropped four games against. By the time she routed Su-Wei Hsieh in the fourth round, Cibulkova was starting to look like a true contender for the title in an upset-plagued tournament.

Her run came to an end at the hands of 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the quarters. Still, it was an inspired performance and showed that she knows how to best handle a perceived slight: Get out there and try to prove the doubters wrong.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias