Abandoned Romania. One more time! How our women's tennis team fell into disgrace

The next time you see a female tennis star from us on TV talking about how much she appreciates the love and support of Romanians, change the channel! Because, unfortunately, the man on the microphone beats the plains and delivers empty words.

This extremely sad situation is confirmed by the facts. Concretely, since 2019, when the Romanian team lost the semi-final of the Fed Cup against France, this competition, which has become the Billie Jean King Cup in the meantime, has fallen into derision for our girls. Hence, the refusal of calls or the announcement of withdrawals that have taken place in the last five years.

That's why Romania now presents itself to the match against Ukraine in the United States with a terrifyingly weak team at the disposal of captain Horia Tecau (39 years old). He had to turn to some athletes who have more defeats than victories in 2024! That's right, with the exception of Anca Todoni (19 years old), who is on the plus side this year, but that's because she played more in Challenger and ITF tournaments. We are talking about a kind of second echelon of women's tennis.

Otherwise, Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian are going through a form crisis. And the batch was completed with Mara Gae, an 18-year-old kid, very far from the level of a competition like the Billie Jean King Cup.

Halep only wants to go to the 2024 Olympics

Horia Tecău found herself in the difficult situation of assembling this team, after Sorana Cîrstea (29 WTA) refused, once again, to return under the tricolor, while Irina Begu (127 WTA), injured until recently, also announced her retirement from the Romanian team in June 2022, citing that she wants to focus on her career in the WTA circuit.

Also worth mentioning is the situation of Simona Halep (1,144 WTA) who, while she was suspended for doping, kept showing her desire to perform for Romania, but, when she escaped the suspension, she forgot about this desire! With the specification that Halep still wants to go to the Olympic Games in Paris (July 26 – August 11). At least, on a declarative level, but without being willing to check the conditions provided by the regulation. Among which was this presence in the team, at the duel with Ukraine, in the Billie Jean King Cup. Even so, Romanian sports officials are determined to do everything possible so that “Simo” is in the squad for Paris 2024.

“There is this chance for Simona to go to the Olympic Games with a wild-card. And I can say that until we exhaust all these ways to get a wild card for her, we will not give up. The most important thing is that Simona wants this with all her heart. She has time to reach her previous form. It just depends on her and how much she wants to participate in Paris. We are waiting for it. My message is for her to be healthy, have confidence and, every day, climb one more step to fulfill her Olympic dream“, said Mihai Covaliu, head of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR).

Ukrainian women, much more attached to the country

When we see the Ukrainian team, with which we will measure our strength in Florida, we realize that not all the stars came to them either. Missing, for example, are Marta Kostyuk (27 WTA), Dayana Yastremska (33 WTA) and Anhelina Kalinina (32 WTA). Noting that the first two are facing medical problems.

Instead, the first “rocket” of Ukraine, Elina Svitolina, is in the group. So is Lesia Tsurenko, another world Top 50 player who has accepted this sacrifice of traveling overseas when the clay tournaments are underway in Europe, out of a desire to represent her country. Unlike Romania, Ukraine also has a formidable doubles pair, with sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok in the foreground.

So, when we see the situations of the two teams that will face each other this weekend in the USA, we realize why Romania is going “as if to cut” this meeting.

Friday's matches start at 20.00 Romanian time and will be broadcast by Digi Sport 2 and Prima Sport 3. Then on Saturday, when it is possible to play three games – if the score is equal, 2-2, we will had a doubles confrontation – the matches will start at 19.00, Romanian time, and will be on Digi Sport 2 and Prima Sport 4.

The winner of the match Ukraine – Romania will go to the Billie Jean King Cup final tournament (November 12-17). The competition will be hosted by “Estadio de la Cartuja” (Seville, Spain) on hard. The loser will go to the play-off to stay in the first echelon of this competition.

Ukraine – Romania, an unbalanced duel

The players summoned by Mikhail Filima

Name Ranking WTA Balance in 2024

Elina Svitolina 18 11 wins – 6 losses

Lesia Tsurenko 42 7 wins – 7 losses

Yulia Starodubtseva 138 9 wins – 8 losses

Lyudmyla Kichenok 18 in doubles 16 wins – 6 losses

Nadia Kichenok 42 in doubles 10 wins – 11 losses

The players summoned by Horia Tecau

Ana Bogdan 64 6 wins – 8 defeats

Jaqueline Cristian 75 9 wins – 11 losses

Anca Todoni 191 10 wins – 6 defeats

Mara Gae 1,062 0 wins – 3 losses

Ana Bogdan and Lesia Tsurenko open the Romania – Ukraine meeting

Ana Bogdan will face Lesia Tsurenko in the first singles match of the meeting between the Romanian and Ukrainian teams, on Friday, in Fernandina Beach (Florida), in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers.

Tsurenko (34 years, 42 WTA) won both straight games with Ana Bogdan (31 years, 64 WTA), 6-1, 6-0 in 2011, in the first round in Istanbul (ITF), and 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (20/18) in 2023 third round at Wimbledon.

In the second singles match, Jaqueline Cristian (25 years old, 75 WTA) will meet Elina Svitolina (29 years old, 18 WTA) for the first time.

On Saturday, in the third singles match, Ana Bogdan will face Svitolina, another confrontation in the premiere, and the last singles duel will oppose Jaqueline Cristian and Lesia Tsurenko. The only direct match between them was won by the Ukrainian, in 2021, in the quarterfinals in Linz, with 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

The doubles match will oppose the twins Liudmila and Nadiia Kichenok and the young Mara Gae / Anca Todoni.