Premium
Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea, the reigning champion, qualified on Wednesday evening, for the quarter finals of the WTA 250 tournament in Istanbul, equipped with prizes worth 239,477 US dollars, after defeating Dutch Arantxa Rus, with 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Cirstea (32 years old, 24 WTA), second favorite, managed to save two match balls at 5-4 for Rus in the decisive, winning after two hours and 30 minutes.
The Romanian player closed with better percentages in service than her adversary, with 4 aces and 2 double faults.
Sorana Cirstea defeated Rus (41 years, 74 WTA), for the third time in three duels, but the first two matches took place in 2010, with 6-4, 6-1 in the quarters in Estoril and 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the Luxemburg qualifiers.
Cirstea ensured a cheque worth 5,800 US dollars and 60 WTA points, and during the quarters she will face off against Julia Grabher, who came from the qualifiers and produced a surprise through her victory against Swiss Jil Teichmann, seeded five, with 6-4, 6-4.
The only match between Cirstea and Grabher (25 years old, 194 WTA) took place in 2020, during the first tour in Linz, the Romanian player benefiting from the Austrian's forfeit during the first set, with a score of 2-3.
