Romania started at Roland Garros with 4 representatives in the singles main draw. Sorana Cîrstea and Jaqueline Cristian stopped in the first round, while Begu and Bogdan qualified for the 3rd round after exciting victories. Today it was Irina's turn to say goodbye to the Parisian competition, while Ana has to give, also during this day, a difficult exam with Elina Svitolina (around 3:30 p.m.).
Irina Begu did not cope with Varvara Grracheva. Photo EPA EFE
Irina Begu (127 WTA) faced a huge chance today. Varvara Gracheva was in front of her, an approachable opponent, and if she passed her, she would have met Mirra Andreeva or Payton Stearns, players ranked 38th and 62nd in the world, respectively in the round of 16. But things went wrong for our athlete.
The Romanian played evenly in the first set against Varvara Gracheva (88 WTA). At 5-4 for the opponent, the Romanian came back from 0-40, saving three set points of the Russian representing France. He managed to bring the score to 5-5, but at 5-6 he had the same scenario. She lost her own serve, double-faulting on the last ball, so Gracheva won the first set 7-5.
He lost in the second set
Devastated, Irina Begu completely surrendered the game at the beginning of the second part. The Russian quickly broke away to 4-0, so that our player would have a jolt of pride and score two games in a row. She then missed two break points, so Varvara Gracheva moved to 5-2 and eventually won 6-3. For Irina (33 years old), this edition of Roland Garros ends definitively, after she also lost in the first round in doubles.
We also have good news from the Parisian competition: the pair Gabriela Ruse/ Marta Kostyuk qualified for the round of 16 of the competition, after 6-1, 6-0 with the French pair Burel/ Paquet. In the next round, the Romanian-Ukrainian couple will meet the winner of the duel Carle/ Parry – Bouzkova/ Sorribes Tormo, the latter starting from the position of favourites.
