Romanian tennis player Irina Begu qualified for the second round of the US Open tournament, the last Grand Slam of the year, after defeating the Belgian Elise Mertens 3-6, 6- 2, 6-3, in New York, on Tuesday.
Begu (32 years old, 42nd in the WTA rankings) made a spectacular comeback after losing the first set and prevailed in more than two hours of play (2 h 24 min).
Begu secured a check for 121,000 dollars and 70 WTA points, and in the second round she will face Chinese Yue Yuan (23 years old, 142nd in the WTA), victorious 6-3, 6-2 against Australian Jaimee Fourlis, told Agerpres.
Begu is the third Romanian to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows, after Gabriela Ruse and Sorana Cirstea. Simona Halep and Jaqueline Cristian lost in the first round.