Short dream for Gabriela Ruse! After unexpectedly reaching the second round in Rome, she was eliminated by Jelena Ostapenko
Article by David Istrate – Published on Thursday, 07 May 2026, 20:43 / Updated on Thursday, 07 May 2026 20:45
After going straight into the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, like a lucky loserGabriela Ruse (28 years old, 67 WTA) was defeated in 3 sets by Jelena Ostapenko (28 years old, 36 WTA), score 6-2, 2-6, 3-6.
Gabriela Ruse entered the Rome tournament from the qualification phase and, after winning against Oceane Dodin (29 years old, 517 WTA), score 6-1, 6-3, lost against Sinjei Kraus (24 years old, 103 WTA), score 6-7 (3), 2-6.
Despite the defeat in the qualifiers, Ruse took advantage of the spontaneous withdrawal of Amanda Anisimova (24 years old, 6 WTA) and obtained direct access to the second round of the competitionlearning shortly that he was to meet Jelena Ostapenko, a player he had beaten in Linz, in the quarterfinals.
Gabriela Ruse, defeated in 3 sets by Jelena Ostapenko, in the second round in Rome
The Latvian seemed a little disheartened by the fact that her opponent changed at the last minute and did not find herself in the opening set. On the other side, the Romanian, eager to make the most of the chance she received, dictated the pace and won the first sequence 6-2.
But Ostapenko gradually recovered, started to play better and better and closed the second set with an identical score. The decisive sequence started under the sign of balance, but then the tennis player ranked 36th in the world broke away at 4-2.
Ruse broke and then had a chance to level at 4, but failed. Then, at 5-3 for Ostapenko, the 67th WTA player had 5 break points, but wasted them all.
After two hours and 15 minutes, the 2017 Roland Garros champion prevailed 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round of the tournament in Rome. Ostapenko will meet Qinwen Zheng (23 years old, 32 WTA), who was defeated 7-6 (6), 6-2 by Cristina Bucșa (28 years old, 31 WTA).
Romania still has two representatives in Rome. On Sorana Cîrstea (36 years old, 27 WTA), who beat Tatjana Maria 6-2, 6-0 (38 years old, 54 WTA) and qualified for the third round and Jaqueline Cristian (27 years old, 28 WTA), who will play against Karolina Pliskova (34 years old, 130 WTA), in the second round of the competition.
