Radu Popescuthe coach who worked over time with Simona Halep, Andrei Pavel, Horia Tecău and George Cosac, comments, in an interview given to Gazeta Sporturilor in Constanța, the impressive performance achieved by Sorana Cîrstea at Roland Garros. At 36 years old, the player in the last year of her career reached the quarter-finals again in Paris, 17 years after the first feat of this type. Mirra Andreeva from Russia, the eighth player in the world, is waiting for her there.
Qualified for week two at Roland Garros, Sorana Cîrstea continues to make waves in what is planned to be her last year on the circuit. The Romanian ranked 18th in the WTA shows an incredible level and is in the quarterfinals in Paris without having lost a single set, having also passed the Chinese Xiyu Wang on Sunday, score 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Radu Popescu, 75 years old, a coach who has collaborated with top names in Romanian tennis, accepted Gazeta's invitation to x-ray Sorana's prospects, for whom the big obstacles on the table are only now beginning to emerge. The renowned coach tried to identify some of the adjustments that transformed Cîrstea, at 36 years old, into such a formidable player.
“He has every chance, now he has to get revenge with Andreeva”
From the same grounds where the listed champions once walked, Professor Radu Popescu spoke in laudatory terms about the quarter-finalist at the Paris Open:
“First of all, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak about a Romanian tennis star, who, at the end of his career, achieves remarkable, special results. You almost feel sorry and say: “How, sir, is he leaving?”.
Now, it gives us every hope that she will produce a pleasant surprise and surpass her performance which she matched. I say he has every chance, he just needs to get his revenge on young Andreeva.
Her past results, from the Grand Slams, confirm a constant evolution of her, although some are successful are at intervals of three to four years. He had above-average results at all the Grand Slams (…) Let's not forget, however, that in these intervals there were also injuries, perhaps more serious ones, with more difficult recoveries.
About Sorana we can say that she has a very solid mentality. Each time he had the strength to come back“, believes Radu Popescu.
The secrets of 2026: the Sorana-Cruciat symbiosis, but also the physical
In his opinion, the chemistry between Sorana and Adrian Cruciat, her coach, has a determining role in this year's results:
“I think that she collaborated for a while with her current trainer, Adrian Cruciat, after which there was a break between them, now they are working together again, which means that there is a knowledge between them, even if there were also small tensions, which are inevitable. Tensions lead to progress. I think this collaboration works, there could be a secret here.”
Not only the collaboration with those from her own lodge, but also Sorana's remarkable physical form attracted Popescu's attention:
“And with the food and the physique… Look at what she looks like! It's just fiber! He moves very well, he is under 60 kilograms. Resistance to effort is important, this ability to be very well developed”.
Radu Popescu, on the slag fields at LPS Constanța / PHOTO: Andrei Furnigă (GSP)
“He could still play in 2027”
Even if the exit from the scene fixed for the end of the year seems a definitive decision, Radu Popescu believes that Sorana could continue, in a more limited calendar, in 2027:
“I think she could still play in the big tournaments, because the ranking will help her, first of all. Nor would I recommend him to play at the same intensity and the same number of tournaments he has played this year, but only to the important ones.
Now, it also depends on her option. He can retire in full glory, make a semi-final, maybe more! We hope to reach the semi-final, we are thinking, first of all, about the next step. As you go a little further, you forget the step you need to take first. I'm not adept at skipping stages”, Popescu pointed out.
He continues: “I had a coach who said: 'I have one more summer…'”. I think Sorana is “one more summer” from the way she looks and moves. Everything depends on her. He is at an age where he may want a family, a child. But only she will decide”.
What would a possible route crowned with a trophy mean?
“A win for her at Roland Garros would keep us on the world tennis map. You can see a decrease… It's not big, we still have 3 girls in the Top 70. It's also about the number, I think at one point we had five in the first hundred”, said the renowned Radu Popescu.
Credit to the first trainer
Drawing an in-depth portrait of her, Radu Popescu highlights the precocity displayed by Sorana since her adolescence and does not forget the coach who guided her in the first years of junior school:
“Sorana comes from a school in Dâmbovița, she is from a generation of girls who made up a very good core, with worldwide representation. I mean Raluca Olaru, generation '89, Irina Begu, generation '90, Simona Halep, generation '91.
It seems that her first coach, Sorin Erlic, he had the eye, skill and pedagogic tact to give him the most appropriate technical elements and polish such a promising subject well.
Let's not forget that Sorana also had very good results in juniors, she was a precocious athlete. At 16, a brave age, she was already coping and winning ITF ITF tournaments. That helped her make a better transition from juniors to seniors and gain experience.”
