Sorana Kirstea (WTA 31) came close to reaching the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, but lost in three sets to Maria Sakkari (WTA 8) of Greece, 2-6, 6-3, 7 – 5.

Sorana Kirstea beaten by Maria Sakkari at the WTA in Cincinnati

Sorana had a great start to the first set against the Greek woman and after two service losses she was leading 4-0, and by the end she had lost only two games.

Although the Romanian was expected to still be in control in the second set, Sakkari recovered and the scenario was just the opposite.

The two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist also led 4-0, Kirstia came back with three straight games to win, but not enough to decide the game.

However, the deciding set was balanced, equal and close to a tie-break, but the final brought qualification to the player from Greece.

The match lasted two hours and 20 minutes.

Know:

• For reaching the second round, Kirstea secured a prize of $17,930 and 60 points in the WTA ranking.
• In the 1/8 finals, Maria Sakkari will meet the winner of the Croatian Petra Martic (36 WTA) and the Czech Karolina Muhova (17 WTA).

The Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) is a WTA 1000 event. The tournament is played on hard from August 14 to 20, 2023, has a total prize pool of $2,788,468, and has a starting main draw of 64 players. Titled champion – Caroline Garcia.