Sorana Cîrstea started with the left in 2024, collecting three failures in a row, but now, after the two tournaments in the Middle East, in Doha and in Dubai, the Romanian went on the plus side: 6 wins, 5 defeats. If in Qatar, “Sori” showed the first positive signs, passing the first round, now, in Dubai, she tied three victories. This series confirms that Sorana is on the right track!
Sorana Cîrstea
After 6-3, 7-6 with Kenin (55 WTA) and 6-1, 6-4 with Kudermetova (19 WTA), today, in the round of 16, the athlete born in Târgoviște met Donna Vekic (Croatia, 27 years old, 31 WTA). That is, by the player who caused the biggest surprise so far in Dubai, eliminating Aryna Sabalenka (2 WTA), score 6-7, 6-3, 6-0!
In the duel with Cîrstea, Vekic started better and won the first set, 6-3 in 36 minutes. The second set was won with the same score by Sorana, but in 44 minutes. In the decisive, the Romanian dictated the tone, at the beginning! It went 3-0, but was tied (3-3) and even led (5-4). To her credit, Sorana did not give up and managed to equalize, in turn (5-5). Then, he served (6-5) and hit the decisive break in the next game for a spectacular victory: 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 after 2 hours and 17 minutes.
Thanks to the qualification in the quarters in Dubai, Cîrstea accumulated 2,048 points in the live ranking, updated in real time. And she passed 21st WTA, over Caroline Garcia! Thus, “Sori” equaled his best ranking in his career, almost 11 years after he was ranked 21st in the world for the first time, in August 2013!
Cîrstea's successful performance now is all the more impressive, as she will turn 34 on April 7. At this moment, there is only one older player in front of her. We are talking about the Czech Petra Kvitova, born on March 8, 1990, occupying the 17th place in the live ranking!
Returning to Cîrstea, for this follows the duel with Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic, 24 years old, 8 WTA) in the quarters. It will be the third straight match, with Sorana currently 2-1:
*2023 (Miami): 7-6, 6-4 Cîrstea
*2022 (St. Petersburg): 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 Cîrstea
*2021 (Australian Open): 6-2, 6-4 Vondrousova
The winner of the Cîrstea – Vondrousova match will play, in the semifinals, either with Paolini (26 WTA) or with Rybakina (4 WTA).
