Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis Player Irina Camelia Begu

Irina Begu helped Romania win the match against Spain.

Florin Orban, 10.02.2015, 13:14

At the end of last week, the Romanian women’s team qualified to the World Group playoffs in the Fed Cup. The Romanian players outperformed Spain in Galati, South-Eastern Romania, score 3-2. On Saturday, Simona Halep grabbed an easy win over Silvia Soler Espinosa, 6-2, 6-1, while Garbine Muguruza defeated Irina Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-2. On Sunday, Muguruza also won the match against Halep, 6-4, 6-3. The score read 2-1 for Spain, and Romania’s chances of joining the elite of world tennis were slipping away.

Irina Camelia Begu however stepped up and proved her value and determination to win. In the last singles match, the Romanian won against Silvia Soler Espinosa, 6-2, 6-4.

The doubles match would thus decide the winner. Irina Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu played for Romania against Garbine Muguruza and Anabel Medina-Garrigues. The Spanish players won the first set 5-7, but Romania came back into the game to win the last two sets and thus the match.

For her outstanding performances on Sunday and for her valuable contribution to Romania’s win, we have designated Irina Camelia Begu Athlete of the Week on RRI.

Irina Camelia Begu was born in Bucharest on August 26, 1990. The first notable performance in her career came in 2006, when she won the under-16 European title. She then took on the WTA standings, progressively climbing with each year. In 2011 she entered the world’s top 40 players. In the coming years Begu focused on doubles competitions. In 2012 she went up to 35th position in WTA doubles standings. She has so far won a singles WTA tournament, in 2012 in Taskent, and four doubles competitions, in 2012 at Hobart, in 2013 at s’Hertogenbosch, and in 2014 at Rio de Janeiro and Seoul. At present she ranks 49th in doubles standings and 34th in singles standings, her career best.