Three Romanian tennis players, Ana Bogdan, Jaqueline Cristian, and Gabriela Lee, are on the main draw of the WTA 500 tournament in Charleston (South Carolina), with total prizes of $922,573 and starting on Monday.
While Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian entered based on their rankings, Gabriela Lee (formerly Talabă) came through the qualifiers.
Lee (28 years old, 312 WTA) advanced in the first qualifying round by defeating Japan's Mai Hontama (24 years old, 120 WTA) with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, after two hours and 24 minutes. In the final round of the qualifiers, the Romanian defeated Australia's Astra Sharma (28 years old, 135 WTA) with a score of 6-2, 6-3, after one hour and 23 minutes.
Gabriela Lee secured 26 points and will play in the first round against American Ashlyn Krueger (19 years old, 73 WTA). Krueger won their only previous encounter last year in Charlottesville (Virginia) with a score of 6-2, 6-2.
Ana Bogdan (31 years old, 66 WTA) will face Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (23 years old, 56 WTA) in the opening round, whom she defeated in 2021 at Roland Garros in the first round with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
Jaqueline Cristian (25 years old, 83 WTA) will have American Sachia Vickery (28 years old, 132 WTA) as her opponent in the first round, with Vickery leading 1-0 in their head-to-head matches after winning in the first round in Canberra (Australia) in 2020 with a score of 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.