Sorana Cîrstea qualified in the “eighties” at the Miami Open! Impressive win with Elise Mertens
Article by David Istrate – Published on Sunday, 22 March 2026, 00:20 / Updated on Sunday, 22 March 2026 00:25
Sorana Cîrstea (35 years old, 35 WTA) continues to impress in the last year of her career. The Romanian qualified for the round of 16 of the Miami Open, after a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Elisa Mertens (30 years old, 19 WTA).
Sorana Cîrstea participates for the last time at the Miami Open, tournament he reached in the penultimate act in 2023 and also played the round of 16 in 2013 and 2024. The 35-year-old player has performed excellently so far, managing to get 3 favorable results.
In the inaugural round, Cîrstea beat Shuai Zhang (37 years old, 61 WTA) 6-3, 6-4. Then, in the second round, she got her revenge against Linda Noskova (21, 13 WTA) and defeated her for the second time in 2026: 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Sorana Cîrstea defeated Elise Mertens in two sets and qualified for the “eighties” at the Miami Open”
In the third round, Cîrstea had as an opponent Elise Mertens, who had won in the second round against Elvina Kalieva (22 years old, 154 WTA), score 6-2, 6-0.
The world number 35 played excellently in the duel with the athlete from Belgium and made a break in the second game of the match. Mertens responded immediately with a break and the game was tied at 4-3 when Sorana broke the tempo and broke away. After 38 minutes, she closed the first set: 6-3.
Elise started the second sequence strongly and awarded her inaugural game to 0. Then she had 4 break points, but Cîrstea resisted heroically, had moments when she served flawlessly and equalized.
Another 0 game for the 30-year-old player followed, but this would be the last won by the Belgian. The Romanian raised her level, won 5 consecutive games and, after wasting two match points, he prevailed 6-3, 6-2.
34-33was the score of the points won by the two players, so a difference of only one point in favor of Sorana Cîrstea
Thus, Cîrstea qualified for the round of 16 of the Miami Open and will meet either Alycia Parks (25 years old, 105 WTA) or Coco Gauff (22 years old, 4 WTA), who struggled in the second round against Elisabetta Cocciaretto (25 years old, 44 WTA), score 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Jaqueline Cristian, the doubles partner of Sorana Cîrstea, is also fighting for qualification in the “eighties”
Jaqueline Cristian (27 years old, 36 WTA) will also fight for the qualification in the 4th round in Miami. She will have as her opponent in the 3rd round Ekaterina Alexandrova (31 years old, 11 WTA), an athlete she defeated on January 12 in Adelaide.
Moreover, Cîrstea and Cristian will play together in doubles and in the inaugural round of the Miami Open they will meet Tereza Mihalikova (27 years old, Slovakia) and Olivia Nicholls (31 years old, Great Britain).
In case of success, the main favorites await them in the round of 16 of the competition: the Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
