Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis Player Irina Begu

Begu won the Tianjin doubles final

Florin Orban, 17.10.2017, 12:52

The pair made up of Irina Begu and Sara Errani of Italy on Sunday won the women’s doubles at the WTA tournament in Tianjin, totaling 426 thousand dollars in prize money. Begu and Errani, who teamed up for the first time, defeated third-seeds Dalila Jakupovic and Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3 in the finals. The win earned them a 17-thousand-dollar check and 280 WTA points. Moreover, the Romanian got 3,026 $ and 1 WTA point for making it to the women’s singles main draw, where she was knocked out by Maria Sharapova of Russia in the first round. For her remarkable achievement in the women’s doubles, we have designated Irina Begu Athlete of the Week on RRI.

Irina Begu was born on August 26, 1990 in Bucharest. She grabbed her first notable performance in 2006 when she won the European gold in the under-16 competition.

The title won in Tianjin was her sixth in WTA doubles competitions, after the titles won in 2012 in Hobart with Monica Niculescu, in 2013 in s’Hertogenbosch with Anabel Medina Garrigues, in 2014 in Rio with Maria Irigoyen, then later that year in Seoul with Lara Arruabarrena and finally in 2017 in Bucharest with Raluca Olaru. Irina Begu also played five WTA doubles finals, which she lost: in 2012 in Fes with Alexandra Cadantu, in Luxemburg the same year with Monica Niculescu, in 2015 in Rio with Irigoyen, and also in 2015 the Wuhan and Moscow finals with Monica Niculescu.

Irina Begu has won four WTA singles trophies, in 2012 in Tashkent, in 2015 in Seoul, in 2016 in Florianopolis and in 2017 in Bucharest. She is currently ranked 56 in the singles and 38 in the doubles. (Translated by V. Palcu)