Sorana Cîrstea, Jaqueline Cristian and Gabriela Ruse found out their opponents from the 2026 edition of the Roland Garros tennis tournament.
Sorana Cîrstea, Jaqueline Cristian and Gabriela Ruse will represent Romania in the main draw at Roland Garros 2026, a tournament that starts on Sunday (May 24).
Cîrstea, in one of the best moments of her career, will start in Paris from the number 18 seed position.
The athlete from Târgoviște recently entered the WTA top 20 for the first time, after a very good run in Rome, where she reached the semifinals and achieved the first victory of her career against a world leader.
Cîrstea, possible duel with Rybakina in the “eighties”
Sorana Cîrstea, 36, will debut at Roland Garros against Ksenia Efremova, a 17-year-old player representing France. Efremova, this year’s Australian Open junior champion, is considered one of the promising young women in the circuit, but experience will be on the Romanian’s side.
In case of a victory, Cîrstea will meet in the second round the winner of the match between Petra Marcinko and Eva Lys. A possible third round could bring a showdown with 2024 Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini.
The Italian is 3-0 in direct matches with Cîrstea, including a victory at Roland Garros in 2023, score 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. However, the Romanian’s current form gives her important chances to change the balance in front of the athlete from Italy.
If she reaches the round of 16, Cîrstea could have a strong duel with Elena Rybakina, seeded number 2. The Kazakh leads 2-1 in direct meetings, but the last match was won by the Romanian, at the US Open 2023, score 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
Cristian shoots hard in Strasbourg
Jaqueline Cristian will start the tournament against Kamilla Rakhimova, a player from Uzbekistan. The two have met four times so far, and Rakhimova leads 3-1 in head-to-head matches. However, Cristian comes after a good period and has reasons to hope for qualification in the second round.
Cristian (27 years old, 33 WTA) just qualified today in the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Strasbourg with the Russian Daria Kasatkina (29 years old, 62 WTA), score 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2. Kasatkina represents Australia.
Gabriela Ruse will debut against the Polish Magdalena Frech, in a duel that is expected to be balanced. The Romanian has an advantage in direct matches, score 3-1, and the last victory came last year, in Miami, score 6-4, 6-4.
On the women’s table at Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka starts from the position of world leader and is in a half considered more accessible, where a possible duel of great interest could come in the semifinals, against Coco Gauff, the champion of the previous edition.
Iga Swiatek, four-time champion in Paris, has a more difficult drawing area. The Pole could meet Jelena Ostapenko, Marta Kostyuk, Elina Svitolina, Mirra Andreeva or Elena Rybakina on her way to the final stages.
