Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 3:40 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 3:46 p.m.
Our player reached the penultimate act of the competition in the capital of Italy, and the next match will be a fiery one. For a place in the grand final, Sorana will fight the winner of the quarter-final between Mirra Andreeva (19 years old, 7th in the world) and Coco Gauff (22 years, 4th in the world).
The opponent will find out tonight, the match between Andreeva and Gauff being scheduled first in the evening session, on the central court, not before 19:00 local time, 20:00 Romanian time. The semi-final match will take place on Thursday, May 14, the time to be announced during the evening of Wednesday.
Sorana Cîrstea, gala match in the semifinals, with Gauff or Andreeva
After producing the surprise and eliminating Aryna Sabalenka, the main favorite, Sorana Cîrstea will have an extremely difficult test in the semifinals as well, where she reached the Foro Italico for the first time.
The opponent, whoever she will be, comes from the world top 10. What's more, throughout the head-to-head meetings, Sorana has never been able to impose herself on Gauff or Andreeva, so she will have the chance to make history for a place in the grand final of the Rome Masters.
Cîrstea, three failures with Gauff, most recently in Madrid
Sorana Cîrstea has so far three direct matches with Coco Gauff, whom she has never been able to defeat, losing each time in the decider.
The most recent confrontation dates back to April 26, when Sorana lost in the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid, score 6-4, 5-7, 1-6. The Romanian was close to producing the surprise, but had an inexplicable fall at the end of the second set.
Previously, the two players had met at the beginning of the year at the tournament in Miami, where Sorana was eliminated in the round of 16, score 4-6, 6-3, 2-6.
The first direct match took place in 2020, at the Australian Open, when Gauff prevailed in the decider, score 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Only one direct match with Mirra Andreeva, a failure
On the other hand, our player met Mirra Andreeva only once, this year, in Linz, when the opponent's victory came after a decisive set.
Andreeva won the first set in a tiebreak, Sorana came back but clearly lost later, score 6-7, 6-4, 2-6.
