Sorana Cîrstea entered the history of tennis! What place does he occupy today in the WTA ranking
Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Monday, May 18, 2026, 10:06 a.m. / Updated Monday, May 18, 2026, 10:07 a.m.
At the age of 36 years and 40 days, Sorana Cîrstea became the oldest player to reach the top 20 in the WTA ranking for the first time, the Romanian reaching the 18th position after reaching the semi-finals at the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome.
Sorana Cîrstea stopped in the penultimate act in Rome after being defeated by Coco Gauff (22 years old, #4 WTA), score 4-6, 3-6. Later, the tournament was won by Elina Svitolina (31 years old, #10 WTA), who defeated the American 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2.
Sorana Cîrstea, the oldest player to debut in the WTA top 20
Sorana Cîrstea has a dream season in the year in which she announced that she would end her career, and the Romanian broke into the WTA top 20 for the first time, reaching 18th place.
“Sorana Cîrstea lives the most beautiful paradox in world tennis”, wrote the journalists from tennis.com.
“Although she announced in the off-season that 2026 will be the last year of her professional career, the Romanian gave the blow of her life: she entered the WTA Top 20 for the first time, directly on the 18th place in the world, after a dream week at the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome
At 36, Sorana Cîrstea proved that age is just a number and rewrote the history of tennis in the Italian capital. In her superb run to the semifinals of the Rome tournament, the Romanian pulled off a stunning performance in the third round, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka.
With this resounding triumph over Belarus, Cîrstea officially became the oldest player in history to defeat a reigning WTA leader.
Sorana was also close to this psychological milestone in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, when he reached the 21st position, spending good periods in the Top 25 and in the years 2009, 2022, 2023 or 2024.
Sorana Cîrstea was outside the WTA top 100 in August 2025, and at the end of last year she was ranked 44th in the world. In February 2026, she prevailed at the Transylvania Open, in Cluj-Napoca, winning the fourth WTA title of her career. Now, in May 2026, Sorana has reached the semi-finals of the WTA Masters 1000 in Rome and is ranked 11th for the Tour of Champions.
Last year, Sorana missed the Roland Garros tournament due to an ankle injury and did not win a match during the grass court season. Thus, starting next month, when the Grand Slam starts in Paris, Sorana has no point to defend, so she can climb even higher in the ranking”.
