Article by Luminița Paul – Published on Tuesday, 14 April 2026, 22:14 / Updated on Tuesday, 14 April 2026 22:14
The Romanian player Jaqueline Cristian (27 years old, 33rd WTA place) qualified for the second round of the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen, after a dramatic battle against the French Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah (20 years old, 135th place in the world), 2-6, 7-6 (8), 7-5, then she talked about the sensations experienced during the match.
Jaqueline Cristian's first clay win of 2026 came at the end of a formidable battle in the opening round in Rouen, where she is the 3rd favourite. Two hours and 47 minutes of effort, doubts, mobilization, falls and comebacks, in the end mental strength pushed her to an extraordinary victory.
The success is all the sweeter as last year, Jaq clearly lost in the 2nd round of the same tournament in front of the same opponent, 2-6, 3-6.
“I really wanted to prove to myself that I have progressed compared to last year, that my mentality is not the same and that I am stronger“, the Romanian declared a few moments after the end of the game, in the interview on the field. After the last ball, turning to her team, she repeatedly pointed her index finger to her temple, thus emphasizing the role of the mind in the victory obtained with so much effort.
Jaqueline Cristian: “I really believed in myself until the last ball”
“I really believed in myself until the last ball and fought hard for every point. I simply gave it my all, stepped up and I truly believe that my mental attitude today was the key to success“, pointed out Jaqueline.
Asked how much this first clay win of the season means, especially in the conditions in which it was achieved, she elaborated: “It's a very important win, especially because it was a very physical match, with all the slips we made today.”
LE SCÉNARIO AFFREUX 😨
In Rouen, Sarah Rakotomanga had 4 match points in the second set and held 4-0 serves, then 5-2 against Jaqueline Cristian, 33rd world…
The 20-year-old jeune Française seems to be leaning towards the premier tour 💔… pic.twitter.com/jqnsIbJzzp
— Haute Cadence – WTA (@Haute_Cadence) April 14, 2026
He then continued: “It will definitely help me in the next games. Now I just have to recover, but I wanted to say one more thing. I really liked the atmosphere here, even if it wasn't for me.
I enjoyed her. I couldn't have done all this without my team there. They supported me like crazy today and I'm very grateful to them for being so loud because you guys were louder but I heard them better and I'm just happy for the win“, concluded Cristian.
Jaqueline Cristian, duel with Katie Boulter in the 2nd round
Her next opponent is Katie Boulter (29 years old, 64th place in the world). The two have met twice so far with the balance being balanced, 1-1. But the matches took place quite some time ago. The Romanian prevailed in 2018 in an ITF tournament with $60,000 in prizes in Burnie, on hard, in the 1st round, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Boulter got revenge in the fall of 2022, in the WTA 250 tournament in Tallinn, also on hard, 6-3, 6-1.
For the qualification in the second round, the Romanian secured herself 30 WTA points and a check for 4,285 euros.
