Sorana Kirstia and Jasmin Paolini meet in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 in Dubai on Friday, and the Romanian needs a win to match her career-best ranking of 15th in the world.

Sorana Kirstea and Jasmine Paolini will play in the WTA Dubai semi-finals on Friday

The match between Kirstea and Paolini will be the second of the day on Center Court in the UAE after the first doubles semi-final.

Thus, Sorana and Jasmin could enter the field around 15:00 (Romanian time). The match will be broadcast live on DigiSport 2 and LiveBLOG on HotNews.ro.

“I lost to her at the French Open, she is a very aggressive player. She is very hard from the bottom of the court, she is effervescent, she has a lot of energy. At this stage of the tournament, there are no easy opponents, all the girls play excellently. I’m happy to be in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament again, it’s great” – Sorana Kirsteaquoted by WTA Tennis.

WTA Dubai, Friday program on Center Court:

• From 13:00 (Romanian time)

Oleksandra Sasnovich / Laura Siegemund – Nicole Melichar-Martinez / Ellen Peres (3)

Jasmine Paolini – Sorana Kirstea

Iga Svyatek (1) – Anna Kalinska

Storm Hunter / Kateryna Sinyakova (4) – Gabriela Dabrovsky / Erin Rutliff (2).

Who is Jasmine Paolini?

Paolini was ranked 26th at the start of the competition (highest was 24th). defeated three big names in the women’s tournament in Dubai: Beatrice Haddad Maia (11th favorite), Leila Fernandez (US Open 2021 finalist) and Maria Sakkari (8th favorite).

The presence in the semifinals of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates is Jasmine’s best result in the “WTA 1000” competition. The last player to achieve this feat after 28 years was Camila Giorgi (Montreal, 2021).

Sorana Kirstea – Jasmine Paolini, 0-2 in straight matches:

The Italian won her only WTA title at Portorož (Slovenia), 2021when she even beat Sorana Kirstea in the quarters, score 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Jasmin played three more finals: Cluj-Napoca (2022), Palermo and Monastery (2023).

Sorana and Jasmin also met in the first round of Roland Garros-2023, and the Italian won: 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

What you need to know before the match between Sorana Kirstea and Jasmine Paolini

• For reaching the semifinals in Dubai, Kirstya will receive a check for $158,944 and 390 points in the WTA singles ranking.

• The Italian reached her first career WTA 1000 semifinal after removal of Kazakh Elena Rybakina (favorite 4).

• If she passes Paolini, Sorana Kirstea will score 2,483 points and move up to 15th place in the WTA Live ranking (which will be the best ranking in her career).

• In case of defeat by Jasmin, the Romanian will overtake even the Italian and will remain in 22nd place (the highest was 21st in August 2013). Sorana could also be defeated by Anna Kalinska if she loses in the semifinals and the Russian wins the competition.

Sorana Cîrstea, virtual track from WTA Dubai

First round: 6-3, 7-6(2) vs. Sofia Kenin

II round: 6-1, 6-4 against Veronika Kudermetova

Best result: 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 against Donna Vekic

Quarters: 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 against Marketa Vondrousova

Semifinal: Jasmine Paolini

Final: Iga Svyatek / Anna Kalinska.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships runs from February 18 to 24 on hard, is part of the “WTA 1000” category and has a total prize pool of $3,211,715. Simona Halep won the tournament in 2015 and 2020, and the reigning champion is Barbora Krejcikova.