Athlete of the Week on RRI: Tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu

Last weeks top performer was tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu, who reached the finals of the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia, a personal best in her career.

Florin Orban, 16.01.2018, 13:26

At the Hobart tournament, totaling $226.750, Mihaela Buzarnescu had an excellent early run. In the first round she knocked out the competition’s fourth-seed, Alize Cornet of France, 6-2, 6-4. In the round of 16 she defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany, 7-5, 6-4. Then in the quarterfinals, the Romanian tennis player ousted Alison Risk of the United States, 7-6, 6-1. In the semi-finals Mihaela had an excellent game against fifth-seed Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, winning 6-2, 6-2. In the final however, Mihaela lost to second-seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Reaching the Hobart finals is the best performance in Mihaela’s career. Her previous best was reaching the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Linz, Austria, in October 2017.

Left-handed Mihaela Buzarnescu was born in 1988 in Bucharest. Her best performance in under-21 competitions was winning the US Open women’s doubles in 2006, together with another Romanian, Raluca Olaru. In the women’s singles she is the fourth Romanian tennis player to rank among the world’s top 50, being ranked 44th. Simona Halep is the world’s number one, Sorana Cirstea is ranked 36th, while Irina Begu is 40th-placed.

On Monday Mihaela Buzarnescu was seeded, for the first time in her career, in the Australian Open main draw. Unfortunately she was eliminated from the first round, losing 6-2, 6-3 to the world’s no. 2 tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

Let us also note that Mihaela Buzarnescu holds a PhD in Physical Training and Sports. Her doctoral thesis was focused on improving tennis play in young players by developing their motor and psychological skills. (Translated by V. Palcu)