Although she was frequently ranked inside the top 30, Sorana Cirstea failed to produce any big damage since her dream run to the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2009. The Romanian showed glimpses of her immense potential now and then stunning a top ranked player, but she lacked the mental toughness to follow up on the big win. Her inability to put together a few consistently good matches prevented her from reaching a WTA final since her maiden triumph in Tashkent, in 2009.
It all changed last week, when a mentally improved Sorana overcame three top 10 players to book her place in her first Premier final in Toronto. Although she ended up being crushed by world No.1, Serena Williams, the Romanian proved she has what it takes to finally take that much-expected step forward.
It all changed last week, when a mentally improved Sorana overcame three top 10 players to book her place in her first Premier final in Toronto. Although she ended up being crushed by world No.1, Serena Williams, the Romanian proved she has what it takes to finally take that much-expected step forward.
Just a few weeks ago, Sorana played a good tournament in Stanford, but then was no match to Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, who prevailed 6-4,6-0 in their semifinal clash. The defeat marked the tenth consecutive semifinal loss, so it was mandatory that the Romanian would stop the unfortunate series as soon as possible. She chose to do so on the biggest of occasions, at the Premier event in Toronto.
It was a magical week for Cirstea whose fighting spirit came to life during her second round clash with former world No.1, Dane Caroline Wozniacki. Popular Sorana caught fire at 5-7,5-6,15-40, saving two match points to level the match before sealing an epic 5-7,7-6,6-4 victory. If usually such a triumph was followed by a poor performance, this time she backed up the win, overcoming another former world No.1, Jelena Jankovic, to reach the quarterfinals. As a strong evidence of her much improved mental strength, she went on to dispose of last year's finalists, defending champion, Petra Kvitova, respectively Chinese Na Li. Her win over Li was utterly impressive. After cruising through the first set, the Romanian fought her way up in the second, coming from 1-4 and 2-5 to push the act into a tiebreak. She once again recovered after a slow start, winning six of the last seven points to book her place in the final. Her dream run was eventually stopped by world No.1, Serena William, who prevailed in a one-sided encounter to lift her 54th career title, 8th of the year.
Despite the painful loss, Serena has plenty of reasons to be proud of her Toronto ride: she ended the semifinals curse, reaching her biggest career final, plus she showed she has the game to tackle the the world's best. As a consequence, she has taken a step closer to breaking into the top 20 for the very first time, peaking at 21st in the latest rankings, her highest position yet. Next big goal for Sorana: winning her second WTA title. As Darren Cahill inspiredly said during his on-court coaching, she "made everyone believers” this week, so keep up the great work, Sorana!
It was a magical week for Cirstea whose fighting spirit came to life during her second round clash with former world No.1, Dane Caroline Wozniacki. Popular Sorana caught fire at 5-7,5-6,15-40, saving two match points to level the match before sealing an epic 5-7,7-6,6-4 victory. If usually such a triumph was followed by a poor performance, this time she backed up the win, overcoming another former world No.1, Jelena Jankovic, to reach the quarterfinals. As a strong evidence of her much improved mental strength, she went on to dispose of last year's finalists, defending champion, Petra Kvitova, respectively Chinese Na Li. Her win over Li was utterly impressive. After cruising through the first set, the Romanian fought her way up in the second, coming from 1-4 and 2-5 to push the act into a tiebreak. She once again recovered after a slow start, winning six of the last seven points to book her place in the final. Her dream run was eventually stopped by world No.1, Serena William, who prevailed in a one-sided encounter to lift her 54th career title, 8th of the year.
Despite the painful loss, Serena has plenty of reasons to be proud of her Toronto ride: she ended the semifinals curse, reaching her biggest career final, plus she showed she has the game to tackle the the world's best. As a consequence, she has taken a step closer to breaking into the top 20 for the very first time, peaking at 21st in the latest rankings, her highest position yet. Next big goal for Sorana: winning her second WTA title. As Darren Cahill inspiredly said during his on-court coaching, she "made everyone believers” this week, so keep up the great work, Sorana!
  |
| Despite the loss to Serena Williams, Sorana Cirstea has finally achieved the big result she was desperately searching. With three consecutive top 10 victories against Wozniacki, Kvitova, respectively Li, the Romanian showed her huge potential in Toronto, reaching the first Premier final of her career. |
photos: GETTY IMAGES
No comments:
Post a Comment