Cirstea upsets Sabalenka in Miami Open quarter-finals

Sorana Cirstea serving against Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open women's singles quarterfinal at Hard Rock Stadium. PHOTO: USA TODAY SPORTS

MIAMI – Sorana Cirstea said she is feeling the best she has in years and is brimming with confidence after stunning world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-4 at the Miami Open on Wednesday.

The unseeded Romanian, who turns 33 next Friday, delivered a stunning performance to beat the Australian Open champion and make her second WTA 1000 semi-finals nearly 10 years after reaching her first in Toronto.

“I started very young, by 17 I was top 100 and, at 18, I finished the year I think 30-something,” Cirstea said.

“So I definitely started very well. If you’d have asked me back then, I would say by 30 I wouldn’t probably be playing any more.

“But then with the years you start to mature, you start to enjoy the game a bit more. So, right now, I’m really enjoying tennis probably in a way that when I was 20 I didn’t really enjoy it.

“So I wish I was 20 and have these results but, at the same time, I’m very proud of my mindset, my work ethic, my discipline, and also my belief, because I always believed that my game can do damage.”

The world No. 74 has indeed been doing damage in both legs of the “Sunshine Double”, having reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells earlier in March, when she fell to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

“I really felt also in the quarter-final that I could have played much better,” Cirstea added.

“So coming here, I had the confidence, I had the work that I put in, in the past couple of months, I’m less emotional, back to work.”

The Romanian also said that she is over the shoulder injury that forced her to shut down her season last September.

“Physically I am better than I have been 10 years ago. I feel very fit. I feel I’m moving better,” added Cirstea, who will face either Czech 15th seed Petra Kvitova or 18th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the semi-finals. 

Sabalenka, whose year began with victory at the Australia Open before she reached the final in Indian Wells where she lost to Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, said she had struggled with the heat.

“It definitely wasn’t my best match. I was struggling a lot with the conditions, like heat. I felt like the balls were flying too much and I couldn’t find control,” she said.

“I was just trying to do my best till the last point. I just couldn’t adjust to these conditions unfortunately.”

There was bad news for Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, who suffered two torn ligaments in her left ankle this week and is unsure when she will return to action, the 2019 US Open champion said on Wednesday.

During her fourth-round match against Alexandrova on Monday, the world No. 31 was seen screaming in pain after falling while moving across the baseline and had to leave the court in a wheelchair.

The 22-year-old, who reached a career-high fourth in the rankings in 2019 but had been beset by injuries, said the rehabilitation process has already begun.

“It’s tough to say exactly how long it will take. I am optimistic that with the right work, rehab, and preparation, I’ll be back on court soon,” Andreescu tweeted.

In the men’s draw, Italy’s Jannik Sinner eased into the semi-finals after a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori. The game was delayed for two hours by rain with Sinner 2-0 up in the second set, but the stoppage did nothing to change the momentum of the match.

In the last four, Sinner will face the winner of the other quarter-final between world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz which was postponed due to the heavy rain and is expected to be played on Thursday (Friday morning, Singapore time). REUTERS, AFP

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.