Sorana Kirstea managed to break a streak of seven consecutive defeats and reached the 1/8 finals of the tournament “WTA 500” in Abu Dhabi, defeating Caroline Garcia in three sets.

Sorana KirsteaPhoto: Brad Penner/AP/Profimedia

Sorana Kirstea, in the round of 16 WTA Abu Dhabi – she beat Caroline Garcia

Ranked 26th in the world, Sorana won after a tight match, score (4) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Kirstia started the match better and led 4-1, but Garcia (21 WTA) recovered the break, saved two set points at 6-5 for the Romanian and won the tie-break (7-4).

Sorana heroically resisted at a very important moment (5-4), saved 6 break points of her opponent and won her second set with a score of 6-4.

Our player won a rematch in the very first game of the decisive set, and then gave away only three points on serves. The exit to the 1/8 finals took place after two hours and 40 minutes of play.

Know:

  • Caroline Garcia won the Champions Tour in 2022. Her highest WTA ranking was No. 4 (September 2018).
  • Sorana Kirstya will fight for a place in the quarter with Maria Sakkari. The third favorite from Abu Dhabi won the “bye” (first free round).
  • Kirstea and Sakkari have met three times before, and Sorana leads 2-1 (she won in straight sets at Istanbul 2017 and Doha 2018, but lost in three sets at Cincinnati 2023).
  • By advancing to the 1/8 finals, Sorana Kirstea secured a prize of $13,590 and 60 points in the WTA singles ranking.
  • Soran Kirstea’s last win was on September 26, 2023, when defeated Claire Liu in the first round of WTA Ningbo.

The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open takes place from February 5 to 11 on hard, is part of the WTA 500 category, has a total prize pool of $922,573, and the title champion is Belinda Bencic (2023).

Abu Dhabi: Olena Rybakina (1), Ons Zhaber (2), Maria Sakkari (3), Barbora Krejchikova (4), Yelena Ostapenko (4), Beatrice Haddad Maya (6), Darya Kasatkina (7), Lyudmila Samsonov (8).