Romania's Cirstea progresses to Qatar Open second round

Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea defeated American Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2 on Sunday in the first round of the Qatar Open WTA 1,000 tournament, prize pool USD 3,211,715.

Cirstea, 33, world number 26 won in an hour and 26 minutes.

The Romanian is now 2-1 in the head-to-head count against Stephens, 30, world number 39.

For her performance so far, she has won USD 20,650 and 65 WTA singles points. In the second round she will face Poland's Iga Swiatek, top seed, world number one.

Swiatek, 22, won both head-to-head matches.

In the women's doubles event, Romanian Monica Niculescu is paired up with Moldova-born Cristina Bucsa, who represents Spain.