Gabriela Ruse (28 years old, 88 WTA) left on the evening of December 25, the first day of Christmas, with her mother, for Australia, where she will prepare for the first Grand Slam tournament of 2026, from the Melbourne hard court, Australian Open. Directly from “Henri Coandă” International Airport, Ruse offered a short interview.
Russians along with Jaqueline Cristian (27 years old, 39 WTA) and Sorana Cîrstea (35 years old, 43 WTA) are the three Romanians on the main draw at the Australian Open, a tournament that takes place between January 18 and February 1.
Gabriela Ruse, who made a year-end sprint to capture the main draw, is on the 128 grid for the third time, advancing to the second round each time.
VIDEO. Gabriela Ruse, upon leaving Romania: “I will play two tournaments before the AO”
“I left my grandmothers, but I'm happy that I managed to spend half a day with them. I ate everything, but I tried not to overdo it, because it's a long way to Australia, but they spoiled me with our traditional food.
I'm used to it, it's part of my job, it's not a nice feeling to be away from your family, especially during the holidays, but I'm happy to go to Australia, to play there again and I want to do the best I can.
I'm going to play two tournaments actually, Brisbane and then Adelaide, it's the first time I've chosen to play two tournaments before the Australian Open, usually I'd only play one, but this time I said I'd like to change the schedule a bit and play more matches.
That was the goal, to stay in the top 100, clearly it's a great joy, I managed to maintain myself and I want from now on to reach as high as possible.
I also got my bathing suit, but I don't think I'll have much time for a bathing suit, I only got it as an emergency.
Yes, I'll definitely see the fireworks on New Year's Eve, that's what I've decided, I won't stay very long, because the next day I'll be training, but I'll stay for the fireworks. I understand that there will be a very nice firework show in Brisbane and I hope to catch it.
We will discuss at the end of next year (no where he would like to rank), but I think first of all I want to be healthy and be in the top 50. I shot a lot this year because it wasn't an easy year and I shot especially at the end of the year because I was almost out of the top 100 and the end of the year was really really difficult for me, but I'm glad I managed to stay in the top 100.
It's very hard, but I think when you're really passionate about what you do, anything is possible. I'm going to spend New Year's Eve with my doubles partner, Marta Kostiuk, and my team, along with her team. Of course we won't do anything special, because as I said earlier the next day we will train, but at least we will stay there for a few minutes and see the fireworks. We'll probably have a nice dinner together and that's about it.
Australia is among my favorites, I could say, I really like Australia. It's really different from all the places I've been and I'm always happy to go back there”, said Gabriela Ruse, upon departure from Otopeni Airport.
The 2026 WTA season kicks off on January 2 with the United Cup, followed by Brisbane and Auckland (WTA 250) on January 4 and 5, followed by Adelaide (WTA 500) and Hobart (WTA 250) the following week, January 12–17.
