Premium
Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian progressed today to the round of 16 of the EUR 189,708 WTA Palermo Ladies' Open after a difficult win against Italy's Nuria Brancaccio 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Cristian (aged 23, WTA's 159th) battled it out for two hours and 27 minutes, managing to win the last two games, the set (6-4) and the match.
Jaqueline Cristian, who secured a cheque for 3,225 euros and 30 WTA points, will play in the next round the winner between seed No. 2, Russian Liudmila Samsonova, and Qinwen Zheng of China.
In another match of the first round, 32-year-old Alexandra Dulgheru (WTA's 376th) lost to 6th seed Océane Dodin of France (24 years old, WTA's 120th) 6-3, 6-2 after an hour and 18 minutes, although Dodin committed 10 double mistakes (she also scored 4 aces).
Dulgheru will receive a cheque for 2,234 euros and one WTA point, agerpres.ro confirms.
Another Romanian on the main draw is Gabriela Ruse, who came from the qualifiers and who will square off in the first round with Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.
In the doubles competition, Gabriela Ruse is paired with Serbian Olga Danilovic, and Andreea Mitu partners with Dutchwoman Rosalie van der Hoek.
