Athlete of the week
Tennis player Irina Begu
Radio România Internațional, 02.04.2024, 11:09
The professional women’s tennis competition schedule has recently included a string of WTA 125 tournaments, Among them, the competition in Antalya, known as the Megasaray Hotels Open, an event with 115.000 USD in prize money. The women’s singles main draw included 4th-seeded Irina Begu, and Gabriela Ruse, who came straight from the qualifiers. Ruse was eliminated from the very first round by Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa, having missed two match balls in the second set’s tie-break. However, Irina Begu reached as far as the finals.
Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Irina Begu the Athlete of the Week.
Irina Begu has returned to the WTA circuit following a seven month-gap. In the first round, Begu outclassed Austria’s Sinja Kraus, 7-6, 6-1. Then Begu defeated Croatia’s Tara Wurth, 7-5, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Slovenia’s Polona Hercog, posed a more serious challenge to Irina Begu, yet Hercog was eventually defeated, 4-6, 4-6. In the semifinals, Begu defeated Moyuka Uchijima of Japan, 7-5, 6-2. However, in Japan, 5th-seded tennis player in Antalya, Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Irina Begu was born in Bucharest, on August 26, 1990. In 2006, Irina succeeded her career’s first great performance, when she won the European title in the Under-16 category. In April 2011 Irina Begu played her first WTA tournament final in Marbella, where she proved her mettle as early as the qualifiers. However, in the final, Viktorya Azarenka of the Belarus defeated Irina Begu. Athlete of the week.
Tennis player Irina Begu’s women’s singles record includes five WTA wins, in Tashkent, in 2012, in Seoul, în 2015, in Florianopolis, in 2016, in Bucharest in 2017 and in Palermo, in 2022. Irina Begu’s career-Begu’s career-best so far occurred in August 2016, when she was the world’s number 22. At present Begu is 115th-placed, climbing 11 places up as a result of her excellent run in Antalya. In the women’s doubles, Irina Begu has nine wins in the professionals’ women’s circuit.
