​Sorana Kirstea reached the second round of WTA Dubai after a real thriller against Brazilian Beatrice Haddad Maia. Our athlete saved two match points and came back from 1-4 down in the deciding set to reach an impressive qualification after a marathon match that lasted three hours and 29 minutes (4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5). .

Sorana Kirstea saved two match points from Beatrice Haddad Maia

Set I

The first set was one in which both players were at the top of their service games. There was little hope for a comeback, and the first vulnerabilities appeared only in the ninth game.

Sorana (70th in the world) was no longer inspiring to serve, and Beatrice converted her third break point in the set. It was 5-4 in favor of Haddad Maia and the Brazilian closed out the set from the start, 6-4.

One moment of weakness was decisive for Beatrice to win the set.

Set II

The second set continued in the same vein: serve continued to be an important weapon for both players, and the first break points (three in total, 0-40) came in the famous seventh game.

Sorana managed to overcome a difficult moment and, freed from the pressure, she noted the difference in response and made her first break of the match (5-3).

Unfortunately, Kirstea could not extend the positive moment and Haddad Maia recovered her break after a game in which our athlete was rushed and uninspired (5-4).

It came to a tie-break, where the Brazilian started better: the 11th favorite eventually had two match points (6-4), but Sorana did not give up the fight and saved both.

In addition, Kirstya used the second set point, and the game went to the decisive stage (9-7 for Sorana).

Set III

Unfortunately, in the decisive set, Sorana’s level fell sharply: many mistakes, inconsistent serving, and Haddad Maya knew how to use the gray moments in our athlete’s game. The Brazilian was leading 4-1 on the scoreboard and the winner seemed to be already known.

However, there were moments when the roles were reversed: Haddad Maia made more and more mistakes, made rash decisions in moments of pressure, and Kirstea managed to make an impressive comeback (from 1-4 it was 4-4).

Sorana even had a break point (she could take advantage of the table for the first time in the deciding set), but a huge chance was wasted.

In the end, Kirstya broke, leading 6-5, and the marathon match, which lasted three hours and 29 minutes, was closed without serving (7-5).

Know:

• Sorana Kirstea secured a prize worth $17,930 and 60 WTA points.

• In the second round, Sorana will meet with Karolina Mukhova (112th WTA rating). This will be the first direct match.

• This year Kirstea has 4 wins and 5 losses in WTA tournaments.

• The match between Kirstea and Haddad Maia is the longest this year in women’s singles.

• Sorani managed to reach the second round in only one tournament in 2023: it happened in Adelaide, where she was defeated by Ons Jabert. Otherwise, the eliminations took place only in the first round.

• Romania still has a representative in women’s singles from Dubai: Ana Bohdan.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships runs from February 19 to 25 on hard, is part of the “WTA 1000” category and has a total prize pool of $2,788,468. Simona Halep won the tournament in 2015 and 2020, and the last edition went to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.