“For the team, the most important thing is to gain experience”

In her first experience as a non-playing captain of the Romanian team, Alexandra Carpenter looks at the challenge with optimism, even if it does not have the best players, injured.

Two days before the departure for Poland, the Romanian team is in almost full formation for the BJK Cup play-off. Missing motivated Elena Ruxandra Bertea (19 years old, world number 321), who is participating this week in the ITF tournament with prizes of 30,000 dollars in Liberec (Czech Republic), on indoor hard, where he reached the quarterfinals.

The other components, Monica Niculescu (38 years old, 97th place WTA in doubles), Gabriela Lee (30 years old, 294th place WTA) and Mara Gae (20 years old, 806th WTA place), trained at the “Simona Halep” National Center in Bucharest. Next week they will adjust to the conditions and surface at Arena Gorzow, where they will face host nation Poland and New Zealand in Group B.

– Alexandra, what is the atmosphere in the team and with what hopes, what thoughts are you going to Poland?
– For me it is a great honor to be part of the team. I wanted to, for about two or three years, said Mr. Cossack, but I never imagined that I would be a captain. I think it's a great challenge, I take it with open arms. The team is very nice. The girls are super OK. There are two new girls, they are summoned for the first time, and then we have to introduce them as nicely as possible into this phenomenon.

– How do you see yourself?
– That's how I see myself. I see myself as a player, former player, talking to her teammates and we try to share as much of our own experiences as possible and bring the best possible input to the game. Where there are multiple heads, opinions are always shared and things work out better.

Alexandra Dulgheru: “Two of the players were injured”

– I guess you contacted several players. About how much time do you have set aside for these gropings?
– Yes, obviously I spoke with all of them, especially with the first players, with Gabi Ruse, with Jacqueline, with Anca Todoni, with Sorana. But unfortunately two of them are injured, namely Gabi Ruse and Anca Todoni. Anca even had shoulder surgery. Gabi was playing with great love, but he got injured in Asia, two weeks before the end of the season. And he said to me: “Alex, unfortunately I've torn my abdomen and I'm going to try my best to see if I can recover, but I think the chances are pretty slim».

– But it wasn't possible.
– And he tried, but he said: No, I am far from being fit for such a summons. Jacqueline, too, said with great playfulness. There's no question that I wouldn't come, but I've scheduled an operation that's important, septal deviation. I've been struggling a lot with my breathing for several years, I never found the time. And if I was a bit late, I couldn't recover for Australia.

– It's hard at the end of the season.
– Obviously, if we think about the calendar position of the BJK Cup, it is not ideal. If you're in world group 1, at least you play then in September, you make an effort, it's still good. But already in November, people want to relax, to rest, so that after that they can start training camp for the next year. It is quite a difficult time. That's why I thank the girls because Gabi Lee had more tournaments planned to catch points to enter the Australian Open.

– And the others?
– Monica had a very busy season, the last three tournaments were everywhere, it was in Istanbul, then Guangzhou, then India. The effort is great and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for this availability. The team is beautiful. We have to focus on the young players because they are basically our future. We can no longer rely on my generation, on Irina, Sorana, Monica. Monica plays a little more, but she won't play any more either.

Alina Cercel, Mara Gae, Gabriela Lee, Monica Niculescu, Alexandra Dulgheru, the Romanian BJK Cup team Photo: Luminița Paul

The idea is to introduce more and more juniors and players who are transitioning to seniors so that they get used to the atmosphere and they will eventually be in the foreground – Alexandra Carpenter

Alexandra Dulgheru: “We have players who play very well on hard”

– Did you take a little interest in the conditions? There they will play in the hall, do you think it is an advantage for us or not? And this system, it's the last year when it will play with these groups, it will return to home and away matches, what do you think?
– It's a bit more intense, because you play three matches in a day. They are players who can play two matches, both singles and doubles. And it's more intense, but I think they made an attempt. They wanted to see if it worked or not. They drew a line and thought, after the feedback, they said “Ok, let's go back to another format”. We don't know the conditions yet. We train in a bubble here. The surface is faster, we expect the hard to be faster, to help the Poles more. But we have to see there, on the spot. I think clay helps us more, basically, because we raised more clay, but we have players who play very well on hard.

– That's right.
– Mara Gae has her style, she prefers hard. Monica, likewise, prefers hard to clay. And in the end, I think it's 50-50. It matters a lot how fast the surface is. For example, when they played, they played against Japan, they said it was an incredibly fast surface. And they didn't have time to adapt, and the others played very well. So we have to see there on the spot.

Monica Niculescu and Storm Hunter in the Chennai final Photo: Chennai Open

– And about the other team in the group? There was more talk about Poland, less about New Zealand.
– Naturally, Iga is in the spotlight, but beyond that I say that the team is very good, because there is Lulu Sun, who didn't do much all year and now, at the end of the season, she made the final in Guangzhou. And former doubles number one, on Routliffe. So, it's not simple, but we see there. And we do our homework.

– In conclusion…
– For the team, the most important thing is to get this experience, especially for the players who are called up for the first time. And what interests me the most, is to see them play. That they play, that they are there, that they are present, that they give their best. And then, I am satisfied.

– Thank you very much and good luck!

The 2025 play-offs are played in seven groups of three nations in the tournament system as the final stage of the transition from the previous format to the current format.

The nation that finishes first in each group in the play-offs will advance to the 2026 qualifiers, where they will compete for a place in the 2026 finals. The countries finishing second and third in each group will compete in one of the three regional competitions in Group I (Americas, Asia/Oceania or Europe/Africa) the following season.

Group B schedule

• November 14 » Romania – New Zealand
• November 15 » Poland – New Zealand
• November 16 » Poland – Romania

Composition of groups

• Group A (Monterrey, Club Sonoma, hard) – Canada, Mexico, Denmark
• Group B (Gorzow Wielkopolski, Arena Gorzow, hard indoor) – Poland, Romania, New Zealand
• Group C (Cordoba, Cordoba Lawn Tennis Club, clay) – Slovakia, Switzerland, Argentina
• Group D (Varazdin, Arena Varazdin, hard indoor) – Czech Republic, Colombia, Croatia
• Group E (Hobart, Domain Tennis Centre, hard) – Australia, Brazil, Portugal
• Group F (Ismaning, Tennis Club Ismaning, hard indoor) – Germany, Belgium, Turkey
• Group G (Bengaluru, SM Krishna Tennis Stadium, hard) – Netherlands, Slovenia, India