Sorana Cîrstea, victory with Jelena Ostapenko and qualification in the “eighties” in Brisbane! The duel with world leader Aryna Sabalenka follows

After the victory in the first round with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (34 years old, 44 WTA), score 6-3, 6-1, Sorana Cîrstea remained the only player from Romania on the main draw of the Brisbane tournament. Jaqueline Cristian and Gabriela Ruse, the other two Romanian tennis players in the top 100, were eliminated in the inaugural round.

Sorana Cîrstea served impeccably in the duel with Jelena Ostapenko

Further, Cîrstea had a duel with Jelena Ostapenko, who entered the competition directly in the second round. In set 1, only the first games were balanced, after which our representative took the initiative and won 4 games in a row. Therefore, Cîrstea prevailed in the first sequence with 6-2.

The second set got off to a great start for the Latvian, who broke and came close to pulling away at 2-0. The Romanian hit some very good balls, turned the score around and broke, tying at 1.

Next, the second set was balanced. Sorana served tremendously and had no problems in the games where she held serve, but Jelena also played well on her own serve, carrying her opponent from one side of the court to the other with placed shots.

Finally, the second set reached a tie-break, this sequence being controlled by Cîrstea. After one hour and 47 minutes, the 35-year-old player closed the match, score 6-2, 7-6 (5)to the delight of the children who waited for her at the end and asked her for photos and autographs.

11Sorana Cîrstea had an ace in the victory against Jelena Ostapenko

Thanks to this victory, Sorana Cîrstea qualified for the round of 16 of the Brisbane tournament, where he will duel with Aryna Sabalenka. Earlier, the Belarusian prevailed without problems, 6-0, 6-1, in front of Cristina Bucsa (28 years old, 50 WTA).