Sorana Cîrstea defeated Anna Bondar and qualified for the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Rouen

The last match of Friday was, at the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen, between Sorana Cîrstea, favorite 2, and Anna Bondar. The two players had met twice in the past, each time the Romanian prevailed, but they had not faced each other since 2022. Even though the years have passed, the styles of the two players have not changed much, each trying to take the initiative and be the one leading the game.

Being in the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament for the second week in a row, Sorana Cîrstea was the one who made the first break, taking a 3-1 lead. However, the player from Hungary immediately came back and then managed to stay close to Sorana Cîrstea, who found the lines and aggression necessary to be the one who dictated the points in the important moments. The first set point came to 6-5, but the Hungarian canceled it with an ace.

It reached the tie-break, where the Romanian played very well, leaving only two points to her opponent. After 53 minutes, the Romanian was discreetly shaking her fist in front of the French who had chosen to stay in the last match of the day. Sorana hit 20 straight winners to her opponent's 17, also committing 20 unforced errors, while Bondar hit 21.

Sorana Cîrstea quickly made the difference in the second set

With the confidence gathered from the first set, the Romanian made the break in the first game, then consolidated it with a service game won at zero. Then came a mammoth game, in which there were ten ties, and Sorana missed six double break points, while Anna closed out the game at the fifth opportunity.

However, Sorana kept the advantage of a break and was leading 2-1. “Quiet”, urged Adrian Gavrila, the coach accompanying her to this tournament. Even though the frustration was probably high, the Romanian focused well on her serve and made it 3-1. Bondar also had a consistent game on serve, taking the score to 3-2.

“Allez, Sorana!” was heard from the stands at the beginning of the sixth game, in which the Romanian had to cancel three break points. Bodnar made more mistakes, and Sorana Cîrstea knew how to be the more attentive and inspired player, building beautifully and winning the second set 6-2 after 46 minutes.

Sorana Cîrstea, the second semi-final in 2026

Sorana Cîrstea will meet on Saturday, in the second semifinal of the day, the Ukrainian Veronika Podrez (19 years old, 209 WTA), a player coming from the qualifications and in the first WTA tournament of her career. In the first semifinal, scheduled from 16:30, Marta Kostyuk (23 years old, 28 WTA) and Tatjana Maria (38 years old, 63 WTA) will face each other.

It was a difficult match, Anna is a very good player. I am very happy for the win in two sets and for the week I have here in Rouen –Sorana Cîrstea

For the player from Romania, it is the second appearance in the penultimate act at a WTA tournament in 2026, after the one at the Transylvania Open. In Sorana's career, this will be the 29th semi-final that she plays, she has passed this stage eight times.

98 WTA pointswill receive Sorana Cîrstea for reaching the semifinals, and the prize money is 12,331 euros

FINAL » Sorana Cîrstea – Anna Bondar 7-6 (2), 6-2

6-2. Sorana broke free and had no more emotions
4-2: Sorana is getting closer and closer to victory

3-2: Bondar managed to win a game on his serve
3-1: Sorana solved this range faster
2-1: Bondar managed to win this long range. Sorana Cîrstea missed six break points!
2-0. The Romanian is going perfectly after a difficult first set
1-0: Sorana starts the second set perfectly

SET 1:

7-6: Sorana dominated the tie-break and won the first set
6-6: Bondar wins the game after Sorana Cîrstea lost an advantage. Tie-break
6-5: Sorana Cîrstea plays flawlessly on her serve, but fails to break
5-5: The player from Hungary does not give up and wins on her own serve
5-4: Sorana Cîrstea is in front again, but she needs a break to take the set

4-4: Bondar keeps close and tied the table
4-3: Sorana took the lead again
3-3: Bondar managed to equalize after a phenomenal range on his serve
3-2: Bondar also makes the break and keeps close to Sorana Cîrstea

3-1: Sorana Cîrstea made the first break!
2-1: Romanian is unbeatable on her own serve!
1-1: Bondar held close and won the next range
1-0: Sorana Cîrstea won her first game on her own serve
Game start!

Sorana Cîrstea defeated Fiona Ferro (29 years old, #218 WTA) in the first round, score 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(2), in a match that lasted two hours and 31 minutes.

In the second round, Sorana Cîrstea took advantage of the abandonment of the Chinese Xinyu Wang (24 years old, #32 WTA) at the score of 5-3 in the first set in favor of the Romanian.

On the other side, Anna Bondar beat Harmony Tan (28 years old, #205 WTA) in the first round, score 6-2, 4-6, 6-0, and in the second round the player from Hungary passed Oleksandra Oliynykova (25 years old, #70 WTA), score 6-0, 4-6, 6-0.

This year, Sorana Cîrstea played 25 matches and won 19 of them. In the last season of her career, after announcing in advance that she would retire this year, Sorana Cîrstea won the WTA tournament in Cluj-Napoca.

This season, Anna Bondar played 18 matches in the WTA circuit and won 9 times.

The two players faced each other twice, Sorana being the winner each time. The first confrontation took place in 2019, in the “sixteenths” of the WTA tournament in Budapest, where Sorana prevailed with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The second match took place in the 2022 Lyon “quarters”, won by Sorana with a double 6-3.