Article by David Istrate – Published Tuesday, 12 May 2026, 10:01 / Updated Tuesday, 12 May 2026 10:03
Sorana Cîrstea (36 years old, 27 WTA) fights on Tuesday, May 12, for the qualification in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome. The duel with Jelena Ostapenko (28 years old, 36 WTA) will start after 14:00 and can be watched liveTEXT on GSP.ro and live on Digi Sport 1.
Sorana Cîrstea has had an excellent run at the Foro Olimpico, managing to achieve 4 consecutive victories, including one over Aryna Sabalenka, the world leader. On Monday, May 11, she returned to the field and beat Linda Noskova (21, 13 WTA) 6-3, 6-4.
Live at 14:00. Sorana Cîrstea – Jelena Ostapenko, in the quarter-finals in Rome
Therefore, Cîrstea qualified for the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, where she will meet Jelena Ostapenko. In the “eights”, the Latvian prevailed 6-1, 6-2 against Anna Kalinskaya (27 years old, 24 WTA), one of Sorana's doubles partners.
The match will start after 14:00, being the second scheduled on the Central Court. First, at 12:00, the confrontation between Lorenzo Musetti (24 years, 10 ATP) and Casper Ruud (27 years, 25 ATP) will take place, from the round of 16 of the men's competition.
“I have always been very professional. Although I announced that this will be my last year, I continue to work very hard. I didn't want to come here as a tourist. I wanted to show that I still have the necessary level and that I can compete against the best.
I'm more mature now. I know what works for my body, I know what works for my game and I have a very stable team around me. I feel like everything in my life is settled and I'm in a really good moment.” declared Cîrstea, at the press conference.
Jelena Ostapenko, about Sorana Cîrstea: “She is a very nice person. She works extremely hard”
Ostapenko had only words of praise for the tennis player from Romania:
“He's a very nice person. I think he's playing excellently this season. We've played against each other many times and it will be a good match for sure. I think (not that it's the last year of his career) it gives him a bit of freedom, in a good way, because you don't have the pressure of having to defend your points. She works very hard. He got injured a couple of times and it's very difficult to come back.”
Sorana Cîrstea and Jelena Ostapenko have met 7 times, the score being 4-3 for the 28-year-old player. She won her first match, at the US Open 2017, but our representative won the last two matches, at Wuhan 2025 (6-0, 2-1 – the Latvian withdrew) and at Brisbane 2026 (6-2, 7-6 (5)).
The winner of this quarter-final will play in the penultimate act of the tournament in Rome either with Coco Gauff (22 years old, 4 WTAs), or with Mirra Andreeva (19 years old, 7 WTAs).
Cîrstea also plays doubles, teaming up with Jaqueline Cristian (27 years old, 28 WTA). The two defeated Tyra Grant and Jennifer Ruggeri in the first round with 6-4, 6-4, but they have not yet found out their opponents in the “eights”.
Sorana and Jaqueline will face either Hailey Baptiste/Alexandra Eala or Katerina Siniakova/Taylor Townsend, the number 2 favorites for the title.
