Athlete of the Week
Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea has been designated Athlete of the Week by Radio Romania International
Florin Orban, 27.02.2024, 13:25
Tennis tournaments are staged in the month of February in the Gulf area as this is the only place in the northern hemisphere, which offers the best conditions for this sport, this time of the year.
Last week, for instance, the women’s WTA 1000 tournament was staged in Dubai, a competition with three million and two hundred thousand dollars in prize money. The trophy was won by Italian Jasmine Paolini, who outperformed Russian Anna Kalinskaya in the finals. Romanian Sorana Cîrstea had made it to the semifinals, where she lost to Paolini, who had a really extraordinary week. Cîrstea obtained a check of 158,944 dollars, 390 WTA points, and Radio Romania International has designated her Athlete of the Week.
In the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, Sorana stood up against US challenger Sofia Kenin, whom she beat in a two setter, 6-3, 7-6. Next she took on 13th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, whom she outperformed 6-1, 6-4. She had a difficult eighth finals match against Donna Vekic of Croatia who had come after a win against second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Cîrstea won the match in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Then followed another dificult game in the quarters against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. The Romanian obtained a three-set win, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, after a fantastic comeback in the second set. In the semifinals, however, fatigue took its toll on Sorana who eventually lost to Paolini 6-2, 7-6.
Sorana Cîrstea was born in Târgovişte (southern Romania), on April 7th 1990. She turned professional in 2006, a year which she ended on the 348th place in the world ranking. She has so far won two WTA tournaments; the first in Tashkent in 2008 and the second 13 years later in Istanbul. In August 2013 she obtained the best position in her entire career, the 21st position. She went through a more difficult period fraught with medical issues, but she recovered and almost regained the shape that made her famous. She is presently 22nd in the world ranking.
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