Romania's Buzarnescu progresses to Winners Open women's singles R16

Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu on Tuesday progressed to the women's singles round of 16 of the 235,238-USD Winners Open tournament, the first WTA tournament in Cluj-Napoca, after defeating Bulgarian Viktoria Tomova, seventh seed, 6-2, 6-3.

Buzarnescu, 33, world number 170, the only Romanian player in the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics, prevailed in an hour and 19 minutes over Tomova, 26, world number 117.

Buzarnescu, who also won the previous three meets with Tomova (2011, 2017, 2019) without losing a set, won 3,675 US dollars and 30 WTA singles points. In the next round, she will face Spain's Lara Arruabarrena, 3-1 head-to-head count, with Buzarnescu defeating the Spaniard this February in the first round of the Australian Open 6-4 6-3.