RRI Sports club
Romanian tennis players at the Australian Open
Florin Orban, 22.01.2020, 12:34
Only one Romanian tennis player has succeeded to make headway into the womens singles version of the ongoing Australian Open, the years first major tennis tournament. Simona Halep has got through to the second round, having secured a 7-5, 6-1 win against US opponent Jennifer Brady. This coming Thursday, 4th-seeded Halep will face British challenger Harriet Dart. We recall that in 2018, Halep reached as far as the finals of the tournament in Melbourne, but she lost to Danish challenger Caroline Wozniacki.
In 2020, Sorana Carstea qualified for the Australian Opens second round, having secured a 6-2, 7-6 win against Czech opponent Barbora Strycova. However, this past Wednesday Carstea sustained a 6-4, 3-5, 5-7 defeat by 15-year old US challenger Cori Gauff. Soranas qualification in the second round brought her 128,000 USD and 70 WTA points.
The Romanian-Dutch pair made of Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer this past Wednesday got through to the mens doubles second round. In the first round, Tecau and Rojer secured a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win against the British-Pakistani pair made of Dominic Inglot and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. It only took eighth-seeded pair made of Tecau and Rojer one hour and 36 minutes to defeat their opponents. In the tournaments round of 32, Tecau and Rojer will take on the all-Australian pair made of Max Purcell and Luke Saville. We recall that in 2019, Tecau and Rojer were edged out of the competition from the very first round. At the Australian Open so far, Horia Tecau has played two mens doubles semifinals, in 2012, pairing up with Swedish Robert Lindstedt and in 2015, pairing up with his current partner Jean-Julien Rojer.
(Translated by Eugen Nasta)
