Sorana Cîrstea has qualified for the round of 16 of the Miami Masters 1000 tournament after defeating Daria Kasatkina from Russia, ranked 11th in the WTA, with a score of 7-5, 6-2 in the third round.
The Romanian, ranked 24th in the WTA at 33 years old, played a stormy match against the Russian player who had beaten her twice before, most recently in Abu Dhabi in February, although she started very weak, trailing 3-0 after just a few minutes of play.
The match lasted one hour and 29 minutes, and Sorana will find out her next opponent tonight between Collins and Avanesyan.
A splendid revenge for Sorana, who was clearly defeated a month ago in Abu Dhabi, with a score of 2-6, 0-6, by the same Kasatkina, today almost unrecognizable in the second set, where she merely showed up.
Cîrstea confidently took the lead with remarkable aggressiveness at 4-1, then 5-2, to now calmly await her next opponent, which will be determined from the match between Danielle Collins (30 years old and 53rd in the WTA) and Elina Avanesyan (21 years old and 65th in the WTA).
Last year, the Romanian reached the semifinals, where she was defeated by Petra Kvitova, who went on to win the trophy. Sorana now has 9 victories in this year 2024, during which she has changed coaches several times, and for the clay season, she has already chosen the famous Spanish coach Albert Costa.