RRI Sports Club

Florin Orban, 16.01.2019, 13:27

Only two
Romanian tennis players have got through to the Australian Open’s singles. In
the women’s singles, WTA number 1 Simona Halep secured a nail-biting win
against WTA 71st-ranked, Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi. Halep lost in the
first set on tie break. She came from behind in the second set, however,
securing a 6-4 win. Then Kanepi’s run on the court became increasingly flawed,
and Halep had no problem grabbing a 6-2 win in the third set. In the second
round on Thursday, Simona Halep takes on WTA 56th -ranked Sofia Kenin
of the United States.

WTA 76th-placed
Irina Begu has also made it to the second round. In the first round, Begu took
advantage of German contender Andrea Petkovic withdrawing from the game. Then
in the second round, Irina Begu was outperformed by 8th-seed Petra
Kvitova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-3.

In the men’s singles
also at the Australian Open, ATP 60th – ranked Marius Copil on Thursday
takes on 22nd-placed David Goffin of Belgium, in the second round.
In the first round on Tuesday, Copil secured a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win against 108th-placed
Marcel Granollers of Spain.

In the men’s
doubles, no Romanian tennis players are left in the competition. In the first
round, the Romanian-Hungarian pair made up of Marius Copil and Marton Fucsovics
were defeated by the all-British pair made of Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara, 6-3,
6-1. The 9th-seeded pair was also eliminated, as Romania’s Horia
Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands were defeated by a
Salvadorian-American pair made up of Marcelo Arevalo and Jamie Ceterrani, 7-5,
6-7, 6-3.

In the women’s
doubles, Irina Bara and Monica Niculescu have got through to the second round
as on Wednesday they grabbed a 6-1, 6-1 win against Lara Arruabarrena and
Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-1, 6-1. Then Bara and Niculescu take on the 6th-seeded
Czech – Russian pair made up of Lucie Hradecka and Ekaterina Makarova. Then on
Thursday in the first round, 10th-seed pair made of Irina Begu and Mihaela
Buzărnescu will take on their opponents at the Australian Open. Also playing on
Thursday are Sorana Carstea, pairing up with Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and
Raluca Olaru, pairing up with Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva.