Sorana Kirstya and Arina Sabalenko met at the Miami Open (the Romanian won), and both made a major decision after facing off in the quarterfinals of the “WTA 1000” competition.

Sorana Kirstya and Aryna Sabalenko withdrew from WTA Charleston

Thus, organizers of the “WTA 500” competition in Charleston announced that Sorana and Arina will no longer participate in the first major tournament on clay this year (April 3-9), citing various reasons.

While Kirstia is likely to be looking to rest after excellent results at Indian Wells (quarters) and Miami Open (she qualified for the semifinals), Sabalenka said she picked up the injury during a match at an event in Florida.

“It is with sadness that I announce that I must leave Charleston! I got injured during one of my matches in Miami and I need time to rest and heal. I am very sorry for the organizers and fans. I couldn’t wait to come back and play in front of you! Sabi” – Aryna Sabalenko on Twitter.

Thus, Sorana Kirstya and Aryna Sabalenko will probably debut on clay at the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart (April 17-23).

The Credit One Charleston Open runs April 3-9 on clay, is part of the WTA 500, and has a total prize pool of $780,637. 64 players will take part in the main draw, and the title champion is Belinda Bencic.

The main favorites of this year’s edition are Jessica Pegula (3 WTA), Ons Jaber (5), Daria Kasatkina (8), Belinda Bencic (9), Veronika Kudermetova (11), Victoria Azarenka (16), Kateryna Aleksandrova (18). and Magda Lynette (19).

Romania will be represented by Iryna Begu (34 WTA) and Gabriela Lee Talaba (202, qualified).

Sorana Kirstea, excellent performance at the Miami Open

Round I: 7-6(6), 6-2 against Fernanda Contreras Gomez (179 WTA)

II round: 6-2, 6-3 against Caroline Garcia (4 WTA)

Round III: 7-5, 6-1 against Karolina Muchova (55 WTA)

Best result: 7-6(3), 6-4 against Marketa Vondrousova (103 WTA).

Quarters: 6-4, 6-4 against Aryna Sabalenko (2 WTA)

Semifinal: Petra Kvitova (12 WTA) / Friday, from 22:00, LiveBLOG on HotNews.ro.

Know:

• The winner of the match between Sorana Kirstea (74 WTA) and Petra Kvitova (12 WTA) will fight for the trophy with Olena Rybakina (7 WTA).

• The presence in the semifinals of the tournament in Miami is the second best result of Sorana Kirstea’s career, after reaching the final of the Rogers Cup in 2013 (then she was defeated by Serena Williams).

• The qualification to the semifinals is the best result recorded in the career of Sorana Kirstea at the Miami Open. Also, for the first time, she defeated an athlete from the Top-2 WTA (Aryna Sabalenko).

• By advancing to the semifinals of the competition in Florida, Sorana secured a prize of $352,635 and 390 points in the WTA singles ranking.

• A very good move from the tournament in Florida will help Sorana to make an important jump in the world singles hierarchy, in WTA Live our athlete takes 41st place – a jump of 33 positions.

• Sorana Kirstea is the first player outside the WTA Top 50 to win at least 9 main draw matches at the Sunshine Double (4 in Indian Wells and 5 in Miami) in the same year.

The Miami Open takes place from March 21 to April 2 on hard, is part of the “WTA 1000” category and has a total prize pool of $8,800,000. There are 96 players in the main draw, and the reigning champion is Iga Svyatek.