Sorana Cîrstea reaches Roland Garros quarterfinals for first time in 17 years, still without dropping a set

Match Summary

Sorana Cîrstea, the world number 18 and 18th seed, secured her place in the Roland Garros quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Chinese qualifier Xiyu Wang, ranked 148th. The match lasted one hour and 55 minutes on the Suzanne-Lenglen court. Cîrstea has now won four consecutive matches in Paris without losing a single set, including a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win over Solana Sierra in the previous round that took just 56 minutes.

A Tense Second Set

The first set was relatively straightforward for the Romanian, but the second set proved far more challenging. Cîrstea served for the match at 5-2, only for Wang to mount a fierce comeback, winning four consecutive games to force a tiebreak. A pivotal moment came when Cîrstea won a 19-shot rally to take a 4-2 lead in the tiebreak, ultimately converting her first match point. Speaking after the match, Cîrstea acknowledged the difficulty.

At this level, if you lose 1% of intensity, things take a different turn. Wang played impressively at the end of the second set, she was the one who played incredibly.

A 17-Year Journey

This marks Cîrstea's first quarterfinal appearance at Roland Garros since 2009, when she defeated Jelena Jankovic before losing to Samantha Stosur. It is her third career Grand Slam quarterfinal, following the 2009 French Open and the 2023 US Open. She has never advanced beyond this stage at a major. Marion Bartoli, the former Wimbledon champion conducting the on-court interview, noted she had played and trained with Cîrstea 17 years ago during that 2009 run.

I had the pleasure of knowing you, we played and trained together 17 years ago, in 2009 you were there, at Roland Garros, playing in the quarterfinals. 17 years later, you are showing your resilience, courage and passion for this sport.

Defying Labels

At 36, Cîrstea delivered a reflective on-court speech about age, ambition, and societal expectations. She emphasized that her passion for tennis remains undimmed and credited a lighter mental approach for her recent success.

Society labels us in certain groups, but age doesn't matter, in life you have the right to do what you want. Here I am, at 36. I've put less pressure on myself in recent years. I think I'm a more complete player now than in the past and I have a smile on my face, because I like what I do.

What's Next

In the quarterfinals, Cîrstea will face the winner of the match between eighth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia and Switzerland's Jil Teichmann, ranked 170th. That quarterfinal is scheduled for Tuesday. By reaching this stage, Cîrstea has already secured €470,000 in prize money and 430 WTA ranking points.