Sorana Cîrstea versus Coco Gauff in the 3rd round of the tournament in Madrid, in the opening of the program on the Central Court

Three days in a row, the Romanian players were included in the program of the Central Court in Madrid. After Gabriela Rusedramatically defeated by Elena Rybakinaworld number 2, 7-5 in the decider, it was his turn Jaqueline Cristian cons Aryna Sabalenkaagain Sorana Cîrstea close the series.

The two-time Caja Magica quarter-finalist in 2016 and 2017 will face Coco Gauff in Round 3, with their match opening the program on Sunday, April 26, in the main arena. from 11:00 local time, 12:00 in Romania.

It will be the third meeting between the two, the previous ones being won by the American, each time in three sets. The first was contested in the 2nd round at the 2020 Australian Open, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5the second is much more recent, from this year, in the “eighties” in Miami, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

“It's a complicated match“, said Cîrstea for GSP, then recalled their recent match on the American hard. “I had a lot of chances to win that match. I know her quite well from a tactical point of view, and she knows me, normally. I know she plays a little better on clay, so it will be a difficult match for sure”, added the Romanian.

Sorana Cîrstea: “I always wanted to play with the Top 5 girls”

“He likes the conditions here, moves extremely well, serves well. At the same time, we will see how I will be. I wish I had more training days here, to get used to the conditions“, stated Sorana, noting that the day before the match would be a normal training day and assuring that “I will already be at a higher level, I say”.

A difficult match, but, at the same time, a match that gives me pleasure because every time I wanted to play with the Top 5 girls, to see exactly where my level is and where my value is – Sorana Cîrstea

Gauff, the reigning Roland Garros champion and finalist last year in Madrid, has a complicated relationship with clay despite these resounding results. Raised on the hards in the US, she nevertheless made an early acquaintance with the red surface when she trained in Europe at the Mouratoglou Academy.

The world number 3 got past France's Leolia Jeanjean 6-3, 6-0 in the second round, then plastically described her connection to the clay. “It's like a nice guy who treats you well, but you feel no attraction to him. That's how I feelGauff said in the mixed area. “There's a lot of weird stuff going on: my socks get dirty, I cut myself, and I hurt my knee. You're never completely stable, you don't know what you're going to find, which can be nice sometimes, but other times I need stability in my life,” she said.

Coco also talked about the different conditions in Madrid with the altitude in the Spanish capital. “It forces you to rely more on your shots and allow external factors to work in your favor. In today's match (not the one with Jeanjean) I hit balls that weren't perfect and still bounced a lot because of the altitude. That's something I've learned over the years on this tour“, the American concluded.