Article by Romeo Ene – Published Sunday, May 31, 2026, 4:25 p.m. / Updated Sunday, May 31, 2026, 4:25 p.m.
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Sorana Cîrstea (36 years old, 18 WTA) qualified for the quarterfinals at Roland Garros after overcoming Xiyu Wang (25 years old, #148 WTA), score 6-3, 7-6 (4).
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Sorana will beat the winner of the duel Mirra Andreeva (8 WTA) – Jil Teichmann (170 WTA) in the quarter-finals.
CTP revealed an episode from behind the scenes and compared Simona Halep and Sorana Cîrstea, the two big names of the last years of Romanian tennis, explaining why “Sori” shines only now, at the end of her career.
Journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu, right after Sorana Cîrstea's victory: “She had a successful mental transplant”
Cristian Tudor Popescu publicly acknowledged a statement that, in the past, bothered Simona Halep, the former WTA leader: “I once said that the most talented player of Simona Halep's generation is… Sorana Cîrstea! Simona got a little angry.”
The journalist believes that Sorana has solved the big problem that tormented her in her youth: the psyche.
“Sorana's time has caught up with time! I once said that the most talented player of Simona Halep's generation is… Sorana Cîrstea! Simona got a little angry, but I explained that, to be a great champion, several qualities are needed, talent is only one.
I have seen, in the 60 years I have lived in tennis, many outstanding Romanian talents who remained on the periphery of big tennis. Until a few years ago, I also put Sorana in this category.
While Simona triumphed, having, in addition to talent, a special constancy in the game, superior left-right movement speed, physical resistance and, above all, a much stronger mentality than Sorana's.
Today, however, after having a successful mental transplant, Sorana is, with her always beautiful weapons, in the 18th place in the world, with prospects for advancement!
The reproach that he didn't play like that in his youth seems wrong to me: in tennis, as in life, things don't happen all the time, but when the time comes…”, CTP wrote on his personal Facebook page.
PHOTO GALLERY. Then and now » The incredible transformation of Sorana Cîrstea! How he looked in 2009, when he dazzled Paris for the first time at just 19 years old
