Rome, May 12 (IANS) Sorana Cirstea on Tuesday secured a stunning straight-sets win over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the semifinals of the Italian Open 2026 for the first time in her career.

The 36-year-old Romanian delivered one of her best performances this season, defeating Ostapenko 6-1, 7-6(0) in just one hour and 31 minutes. This victory highlights her impressive run in Rome. Cirstea dominated the first set, winning it 6-1 as Ostapenko struggled with her aggressive baseline play and consistency. The Latvian fought back in the second set, breaking Cîrstea’s serve twice to lead 4-2 and then 5-3. It looked like she might force a third set.

However, Cirstea remained calm under pressure, breaking back twice. She then delivered a perfect tiebreak, winning without losing a single point.

This win improved Cirstea’s excellent 2026 season record to 25-7 and highlighted her growing skills on clay, where she now holds a 10-2 record this year. She is only the fourth player to earn at least 10 WTA-level clay-court wins this season, joining Mirra Andreeva, Marta Kostyuk, and Anastasia Potapova.

Cirstea is now just one win away from matching her career-best total of 11 wins in a single season, which she achieved in 2021.

This victory marks her fourth WTA 1000 semifinal in her career, following her previous appearances in Toronto in 2013, Miami in 2023, and Dubai in 2024. Notably, the 13-year gap between her first and latest WTA 1000 semifinal is the second longest in this tournament’s history since 2009. Only Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Victoria Azarenka have a longer gap, reaching the semifinals 15 years apart.

Cirstea’s run in Rome has also made her the third-oldest semifinalist at the Italian Open in the Open Era, following tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

She is now the third-oldest semifinalist in a WTA 1000 event, behind only Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

This win also ties Cirstea’s head-to-head record with Ostapenko at 4-4. After losing their first three meetings, Cirstea has won four out of their last five matchups and remains unbeaten against the Latvian in 2026.

Next, Cirstea will compete against either third seed Coco Gauff or eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals as her memorable final season in Rome continues to build momentum.

–IANS

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