Sorana Cirstea: Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea was born 7 April 1990. she is a Romanian professional tennis player. As of December 3, 2012, she is ranked world no. 27 and is the highest ranked Romanian player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world no. 23 in August 2009,following appearances in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals of the Los Angeles Open.
Cîrstea has a neat, controlled style that minimizes mistakes. According to the Tennis Spy, she does not appear to be fast around the court, but actually is deceptively quick covering the ground with her long strides and good reading of the game. As a good doubles player, she is also a very solid volleyer, and also has solid groundstrokes. Her forehands and backhands are delivered quickly on both sides.
Cîrstea was born to Mihai and Liliana in Bucharest,but currently resides in Târgovişte. She also has a brother, Mihnea, five years her junior. Cîrstea was introduced to tennis at the age of four by her mother. “My mum and dad have always followed tennis and they encouraged me to start playing the sport when I was young. They’re the reason I started to play tennis and I guess they are the ones I should thank for getting me into it”. She has cited Steffi Graf and Roger Federer as her idols. Cîrstea speaks Romanian, English, Spanish, and French.
Cîrstea is a former ITF Junior Circuit top-ten player, reaching her highest ranking of no. six on June 26, 2006. Her best results include a title in the 2005 German Junior Open (Grade 1) defeating Erika Zanchetta 6–2, 6–7, 6–3 in the final, a tournament she was finalist the year before and a runner-up place in the 2006 Trofeo Bonfiglio (Grade A) where she lost in the final to her compatriot Ioana Raluca Olaru after having defeated the then-top ranked world junior player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals. She also made final appearances at the year-ending ITF Grade 1 juniors tournaments, Eddie Herr International, and Yucatán World Cup in 2005 and 2006, and in the Opus Nottinghill International in 2006 Cîrstea began 2012 ranked 60 in the world. Her first tournament was in Auckland, New Zealand the ASB Classic. Sorana lost in first round to Flavia Pennetta of Italy 4–6, 6–7. In doubles she partnered with Darija Jurak of Croatia; they lost a first-round match to Kristina Barrois/Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 3–6, 1–6.
At the Moorilla Hobart International Australia, Cîrstea defeated Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan in first round 6–2, 7–6. In second round Cirstea beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States of America 2–6, 6–3, 7–5. In third round Cirstea lost 6–0, 3–6, 7–5 to Angelique Kerber of Germany, after having two match points. In doubles, she paired again with Darija Jurak of Croatia. They beat Kristina Barrois/Jasmin Woehr both from Germany 6–3, 7–6. Cirstea/Jurak lost in second round 3–6, 5–7 to Irina-Camelia Begu/Monica Niculescu both of Romania.
At the 2012 Australian Open, Cîrstea eliminated 6th seed Sam Stosur 7–6, 6–3, in the first round. In second round she beat Urszula Radwanska of Poland 1–6, 6–2, 6–3. She lost in third round 7–6, 0–6, 2–6 to Sara Errani of Italy, in a very hard match, because Cirstea suffered a back injury early during the match. In doubles Sorana played with Lucie Safarova again like last year, but they lost to 9th seeds Natalie Grandin/Vladimira Uhlirova from South Africa and from Czech Republic 2–6, 6–4, 6–4.
At the 2012 PTT Pattaya Open, Cîrstea was seeded 7th. She defeated Erika Sema in the first round 6–2, 6–2 and then Misaki Doi in the second by the same scoreline. In the quarterfinals, she defeated top seeded and world number 8 Vera Zvonareva when Zvonareva was forced to retire with a hip injury in the third set 2–6, 6–4, 2–2. She lost in the semifinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 to Maria Kirilenko.
In Doha, Cîrstea beat Jarmila Gajdosova in the first round 6–4, 6–1. In the second round she lost 4–6, 6–7 to Samantha Stosur the 3rd seed. Sorana paired with Anne Keothavong in doubles, but they lost in first round to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–2, 2–6, [2–10].
In Monterrey, Mexico at the Whirlpool Abierto de Monterrey, Cîrstea was the third seed in the tournament and received a wildcard in singles. In the first round she defeated Stefanie Voegele 6–3, 2–6, 7–5. Sorana lost in second round to Timea Babos 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 the eventual champion Cîrstea was the 48th seed at the BNP Paribas Open. She defeated Iveta Benesova in the first round, losing in the second to Agnieszka Radwanska. In Miami, she lost a first-round match to wildcard Heather Watson in three sets.
In Spain, at the Barcelona Ladies Open her first tournament in clay, Sorana was the 47th seed. In the first round she beat Polona Hercog after she retired due to dizziness. Sorana defeated Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the second round. In quarter- finals, Cirstea beat Olga Govortsova. She lost in her first semi-final of the tournament to Dominika Cibulkova.
In Stuttgart at The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Germany, Cirstea lost in the first round to Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 1–6, 0–6.
In Estoril, Portugal at The Estoril Open, in the first round she lost 4–6, 4–6 to Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP).
At the Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, Sorana upset seventh seed Marion Bartoli(FRA) in the first round 6–7(6), 6–4, 6–3. She lost in the second round to Anabel Medina Garrigues(ESP) 6–1, 3–6, 7–5.
In Rome at The Internazionali BNL d’Italia Cirstea defeated Jelena Jankovic (SRB)in the first round 6–3,4–6, 7–6(4). Sorana beat Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) in the second round 6–3, 6–1. She lost in the third round to 4th seed Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6–2, 5–7, 6–2.
At the 2012 French Open in Roland Garros, Sorana lost in the first round to Na Li (CHN) the defending champion 2–6, 1–6. In doubles, she partnered with Ayumi Morita (JPN) and they lost in first round to Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 2–6, 0–2 because of retirement. Morita had health problems.
In Birmingham, Great Britain at the AEGON Classic, her first tournament in grass, Cirstea as the No. 10 seed lost in the first round to qualifier Melanie Oudin (USA) 6–3, 3–6, 2–6.
In doubles Sorana partnered with Anne Keothavong (GBR) and they lost in first round 3–6, 4–6 to Shuai Zhang (CHN) / Jie Zheng (CHN).
In Eastbourne, Great Britain at the AEGON International, Sorana lost in the first round to defending champion No. 4 seed Marion Bartoli 2–6, 2–6.
At the 2012 Wimbledon Championships in London, Great Britain, Cirstea defeated Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 6–4, 6–1 in the first round. Sorana beat the 11th seed Li Na in the second round 6–3, 6–4, but lost 3–6, 1–6 to Maria Kirilenko in the third round. In doubles, Sorana and Ayumi Morita lost in first round 3–6, 2–6 to Casey Dellacqua/Samantha Stosur.
In Stanford, California EUA at the Bank of the West Classic, Sorana as the 9th seed in the tournament beat Vania King in the first round 7–5, 6–4. Cirstea defeated lucky loser Zheng Saisai (CHN) 6–3, 6–3. in the second round. In the third round she defeated 3rd seed Dominika Cibulková in three sets, 6–7, 6–2, 6–0. Cirstea lost in the semi-finals to Serena Williams in straight sets, 1–6, 2–6.
In the 2012 Guangzhou Open Cirstea advanced to the semi-finals before losing to Laura Robson 2–6, 4–6.
So far this year, Sorana has been a quarterfinalist twice: in Hobart and in Dallas. And she’s been a semi-finalist four times: in Pattaya City, in Barcelona, in Stanford and in Guangzhou.
In 2011, MSN recognized Cîrstea as one of the most beautiful women in sports. Bleacher Report also recognized her as one of the “25 Tennis Players You Have to Follow” on Twitter.
Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
