​Sorana Kirstya respected her favorite status and won (with great emotions) the final of the WTA 125 tournament in Reus (Catalonia), beating our athlete with a score of 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(1), from Elizabeth Mandlik. , 147 world number.

Sorana Kirstea, a jump of 10 places in the WTA rankings – She will be in 34th place

Sorana (the second favorite in the race) authoritatively dominated the opening match, she broke away to 3-0 relatively quickly, and the American only changed the scoreboard to the right by the end of the first leg, the score 6-1 in favor of our player.

After a failed start to the game, the American changed her tactics: she became more aggressive, led more points, and also took advantage of some mistakes in Sorana’s game.

In the end, Mandlik led the fighting, the American was not bad in the return matches (4-0). The fall in our athlete’s game was obvious, and Kirstya managed to stop her opponent’s winning streak on serve (4-1).

Sorana showed real signs of a comeback, she came close to 5-4 in favor of the American, but the set went back to her opponent, 6-4, after our player served again.

In the decisive match, Soran was the first to break (2-1), but could not maintain the level. She gave up the initiative step by step, and two lost service games forced the American to break away (probably decisively) with a score of 5-2.

However, Kirstya did not give up the fight: she made a spectacular comeback and tied the score at 5. There was no more time for breaks, the fate of the final was decided on a tie-break.

Sorana had strong nerves, fully showed her unparalleled experience and managed to categorically impose herself, the score is 7-1. It was a stunning finale with many ups and downs that stretched to two hours and 15 minutes.

Know:

• Victory at the tournament in Reus (WTA 125) will help Sorana Kirstea make an important leap in the world singles hierarchy. Thus, our athlete will score 1293 points and will occupy the 34th place in the ranking from Monday. We are talking about a rise of 10 places.

• Sorana Kirstea will receive a check for 13,040 euros and 160 points in the WTA singles ranking.

• Elizabeth Mandlik will receive €7,390 and 95 points in the WTA singles ranking.

• In its first edition, the Catalonia Open 2023 in Reus, Spain was part of the “WTA 125” category, played on clay and offering a total prize pool of $115,000. The Swiss Jill Teichmann (30 WTA) became the main favorite of the race.