Athlete of the Week

Romanian tennis player Elena-Gabriela Ruse is the Athlete of the Week on Radio Romania International

Florin Orban, 31.01.2023, 13:45

The year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, ended last
week in Melbourne.

Novak Djokovic won the men’s competition, the present edition actually
being the tenth he has won in his entire career. The Serbian player has also
added his 22nd Grand Slam trophy equaling the record so far held by Spanish
Rafael Nadal. The women’s competition was won by the 24-year-old Arina
Sabalenka of Belarus, who obtained her first Grand Slam win. She presently
comes second in the world’s ranking after Polish Iga Swiatek.

Romania was represented only in the women’s competition where Irina Begu
made it to the second round while Monica Niculescu reached the eighth finals
together with Swiss Viktorija Golubic. The best performance in the
aforementioned competition was obtained by Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who made it to
the semifinals together with Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. The two eventually
conceded defeat to second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of
the Czech Republic who eventually emerged as winners. For the performance she
obtained in Melbourne, Radio Romania International has designated Gabriela Ruse
athlete of the week.

Elena-Gabriela Ruse was born on November 6th 1997, in Bucharest.
She took up tennis at the age of four with Dinamo Bucharest Sports club. She
reaped only one WTA tournament in Hamburg in 2021 and made it to the finals in
Palermo. She is currently ranking 144th in the world ranking and the
highest position she obtained last year when she ranked 51st. In the
doubles competition she is presently ranking 40th.

(bill)