Paris, May 31 (IANS) 17 years after first breaking into the latter stages of Roland Garros, Sorana Cirstea returned to familiar territory on Sunday, defeating China’s Xiyu Wang 6-3, 7-6(4) to secure a place in the quarter-finals and continue a remarkable late-career resurgence.

For a player preparing to retire at the end of the season, the achievement represented another milestone in what is becoming the most memorable campaign of her career. The Romanian 18th seed arrived in Paris carrying strong form and left Court Suzanne-Lenglen with a third Grand Slam quarter-final appearance to her name, and her first at the French Open since 2009.

The contest was expected to test Cirstea’s consistency against a dangerous qualifier who had not dropped a set throughout the tournament. Instead, the Romanian’s experience proved decisive in key moments as she controlled long stretches of the match before holding her nerve when Wang mounted a late challenge.

Cirstea established her authority early. Using her depth of shot and superior court positioning, the 36-year-old broke serve twice in the opening set to race into a commanding 5-1 lead. Wang, whose season only resumed in March after a lengthy shoulder injury layoff, eventually settled into the contest and recovered one of the breaks to narrow the deficit.

The momentum shift, however, proved temporary. Cirstea quickly regrouped and closed out the opening set 6-3, ensuring that Wang’s revival never fully gathered pace. The second set developed into a far tighter battle.

Once again, Cirstea appeared headed for a comfortable finish after securing two breaks and moving within a game of victory at 5-2. Yet Wang produced her best tennis of the afternoon when facing elimination, stringing together an impressive run of games to level the score at 5-5 and suddenly place the Romanian under pressure.

With the match threatening to slip into a deciding set, Cirstea leaned on her vast experience. She steadied herself in the closing stages, protected her serve and guided the contest into a tiebreak. There, the gulf in big-match experience became increasingly evident. While Wang struggled to sustain her momentum, Cirstea remained composed, winning the breaker 7-4 to seal victory after one hour and 55 minutes.

The result continues an extraordinary season for the Romanian veteran. Having already broken into the world’s top 20 and claimed the first victory of her career over a reigning world No. 1 by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in Rome, Cirstea has now added another landmark achievement to her farewell campaign.

Still yet to drop a set in Paris, she advances to the quarter-finals, where she will face either eighth seed Mirra Andreeva or Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann, with a place in the final four now within touching distance.

–IANS

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