Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea, ranked 35th in the WTA, qualified last night for the round of 16 at the WTA 1000 Miami Masters after a victory against a top 20 rival.
The athlete born in Târgoviște defeated Elise Mertens from Belgium, ranked 19th in the WTA, 30 years old, with a score of 6-3, 6-2. Miami is the tournament where Sorana reached the semifinals in 2023 and also made it to the round of 16 twice before, in 2013 and 2024. So far, she has three victories, 6-3, 6-4 against Shuai Zhang (37 years old, 61st in the WTA), and then 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 against Linda Noskova from the Czech Republic.
Cîrstea advanced to the round of 16 at the Miami Open and will face either Alycia Parks (25 years old, 105th in the WTA) or Coco Gauff (22 years old, 4th in the WTA).
Also vying for a spot in the round of 16 is Jaqueline Cristian, who will compete on Sunday at 5 p.m. against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, ranked 11th in the WTA.
Furthermore, Cîrstea and Cristian will play together in the doubles first round at the Miami Open, where they will face Tereza Mihalikova (27 years old, Slovakia) and Olivia Nicholls (31 years old, Great Britain).