Sports Weekend

Florin Orban, 25.03.2022, 11:20

Romanian tennis player Irina Begu has advanced to the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, totaling some 8.3 million USD in prizes, after defeating the top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6 at the end of a spectacular game. This was Begus first win against a Top 10 player after a break of four years. The previous achievement was in May 2018, when Begu defeated Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, at the time WTA no. 5, in the first round at the Madrid Open, 6-3, 6-3. After this win, Begu has moved on to the third round. Her win against Sabalenka was owed to her game discipline, Begu committing only 7 unforced errors, compared to the Belarussians 34. Begu has thus secured a 54 thousand dollar check and 65 WTA points. She will next take on another player from Belarus, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who ousted Russias Daria Kasatkina in the previous round, 7-6, 6-4. Irina Begu won all three previous encounters with Sasnovich, namely in the Seoul final in 2015, then twice last year, at Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne in the first round, then in the quarterfinals at the Cleveland Open.

Simona Halep, world no. 23, has withdrawn from the tournament. In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Halep announced she sustained an injury during training which will keep her off the court for the next three weeks. Halep will thus miss the Charleston tournament in early April, as well as Romanias match against Poland in Billie Jean King Cup, scheduled for April 15-16 away from home.

In news from football, Romanias Under-21 team on Thursday lost to Norway 2-1 at home in a friendly match. Andrei Anton scored the goal for Romania on minute 28. The Norwegians dominated the second half and scored twice, Lasse Nordås on minute 57 and Robin Østrøm nine minutes later. Bogdan Lobonțs trainees will next play Switzerland in a friendly match away from home on March 28. (VP)