Miami welcomes the Romanians. After Sorana Cîrstea reached the round of 16 of the American 1000 WTA tournament, thanks to the success with Elise Mertens (19 WTA), Jaqueline Cristian also qualified for the first 16, after 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5) with the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 11th player in the world.
The Romanian started the game with a break and ended the set with another, so she prevailed in the first part of the match with 6-3. The second set was much more complicated for our athlete. The Russian won the first game against the serve, broke away at 2-0 and 3-1, but Jaqueline Cristian came back in the match. He broke and won back twice to make it 4-3. Instead of 5-3 for the Romanian, it was 4-4, Ekaterina Alexandrova canceling two break points and equalizing the situation in the second set. Moreover, the film kind of broke for Jaq, who lost the next two games and implicitly the set.
For the first time in the round of 16 at a WTA 1000 tournament
The decisive reached dramatic heights. Alexandrova broke for 3-2, the Romanian countered and equalized at 4. At 5-5, the Russian won on our player’s serve and seemed to break away as the winner. But Jaqueline came back heroically and made the rebreak, sending the set into a tie-break. The balance was still maintained: 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5, for the Romanian to win two points in a row and achieve the performance of her career.
Jaqueline has reached the 3rd round of WTA 1000 competitions 7 times. In the previous 6, she stopped in this phase, now it is the first time she manages to qualify for the round of 16. For the qualification in the quarters at the Miami Open, Cristian will play against the American Jessica Pegula, the fifth player in the world, while Sorana Cîrstea will face the number 4 WTA, Coco Gauff.
