Sorana Kirstea, who qualified for the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, announced that she will have a new coach during the clay season.

>> Sorana Kirstja plays in WTA round of 16 in Miami on Monday: start time and who is televising the match

Albert Costa, Sorana Kirstya’s new coach

After working with Thomas Johansson and Peter Wessels, the athlete from Tirgovishte said that in the next two months she will train with the Spaniard Albert Costa (48 years old).

“It was a pretty quick choice, I made it this week. It’ll get me through the slag season for now, that’s all I’ve decided. I wanted someone who had won Roland Garros, someone who knew how to handle those moments. I wanted a Spaniard because they are a bit more skilled on that surface. I like cooperation.

After this tour (Miami – no) we will start working in the literal sense of the word. We are both excited. I think it’s going to be a great two months on clay and at the same time I’m glad to have someone who has won a Grand Slam and can help me with his experience.” – Sorana Kirstea, according to the materials of DigiSport.

>> Sorana Kirstya’s opponent in the eighth WTA Miami tournament is a Grand Slam finalist

Who is Albert Costa?

As a player, Costa won his most important trophy at Roland Garros 2002. He won the 2000 Davis Cup with Spain and won the bronze medal in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (with Alex Corretha).

He won 12 singles titles (the highest was 6 in the ATP ranking) and one doubles (Doha 2005, with Rafael Nadal).

He was the non-playing captain of the Spanish national team and won two Davis Cup titles (2009 and 2011). He trained Feliciano Lopez and Camila Osorio.

Photo source: Óscar J.Barroso / ContactoPhoto / Profimedia

Know:

• Sorana Kirstea will play with Danielle Collins in the 1/8 finals of the “WTA 1.000” tournament in Miami. The match will take place on Monday, kick off around 21:30 (Romanian time) and will be broadcast live on DigiSport and LiveScore on HotNews.ro.
  

• For being in eighth place, Sorana will receive 101 thousand dollars and 120 points in the WTA singles ranking.

• Last year’s semi-finalist in Miami, Sorana Kirstea, is ranked 27th in the WTA Live rankings, dropping three places.

• Romania had three other players in the main draw in Miami, but they all lost in the first round: Simona Halep (against Paula Badosa), Ana Bohdan (against Kateryna Siniakova) and Jacqueline Christian (against Diane Parry).

>> VIDEO World leader, victory with great emotions at WTA Miami – Full picture of the eighth

From March 19 to 31, the WTA 1000 category tournament will be held in Miami. Played on hard court, the main draw features 128 players and a total prize pool of $8,995,555. The champion of the overall title is Petra Kvitova (she is pregnant and will not participate in this year’s edition).