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Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-best ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March 2009. On the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
, she has won two singles and six doubles titles. Cîrstea's greatest achievements are the final at the 2013 Rogers Cup and the 2025 Madrid Open doubles title with
Anna Kalinskaya Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya ( rus, Анна Николаевна Калинская, , ˈanːə kɐˈlʲinskəjə, Ru-Anna_Kalinskaya.ogg; born 2 December 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world ...
.


Early and personal life

Sorana Cîrstea was born to Mihai and Liliana in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. She resides in
Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște'') is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița (river), Ialomița River. Târgoviște was ...
, her parents' home town. She has a younger brother, Mihnea. Cîrstea was introduced to tennis at the age of four by her mother. Sorana's father owns an ice cream factory in Târgoviște. She has cited
Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...
and
Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
as her idols.


Career


2005–2006: Last junior years and turning professional

Cîrstea is a former ITF Junior Circuit top-ten player, reaching a highest combined ranking of No. 6 in 2006. Her best results include a title in the 2005 German Junior Open (Grade 1), a tournament in which she was finalist the year before, defeating Erika Zanchetta in three sets in the final, and a runner-up place in the 2006 Trofeo Bonfiglio (Grade A), where she lost in the final to compatriot
Ioana Raluca Olaru Ioana Raluca Olaru (born 3 March 1989) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. The winner of eleven singles and fifteen doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, Olaru reached one WTA Tour singles final, at the 2009 Gastein Ladies,WTA ...
after having defeated the top-ranked world junior player
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...
in the semifinals. She also made final appearances at the year-ending Grade-1 juniors tournaments, Eddie Herr International and Yucatán World Cup, in 2005 and 2006, and in the Opus Nottinghill International in 2006. She turned professional in 2006 and ended the year at No. 353 in the WTA rankings.


2007–2008: First WTA Tour title and reaching top 40

In April 2007, she reached the final of the
Budapest Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix (previously ''Budapest Grand Prix'') was a women's tennis tournament held in Budapest, Hungary. It was a WTA 250 tournament played on the WTA Tour on outdoor clay court since 1996. The tournament was formerly known as '' ...
, a Tier-III event, as a qualifier. All of her main draw matches went to three sets. She beat Martina Müller in the second round,
Eleni Daniilidou Eleni Daniilidou (; ; born 19 September 1982) is a Greek former tennis player from the island of Crete. She is considered one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tou ...
in the quarterfinals and
Karin Knapp Karin Knapp (born 28 June 1987) is a retired Italian tennis player. In her career, Knapp won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, along with six singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 24 August 2015, she reached her best singles ...
in the semifinals before losing to
Gisela Dulko Gisela Dulko (; born 30 January 1985) is an Argentine former tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA Tour, WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where s ...
in the final. She was the first Romanian to reach a WTA Tour final since
Ruxandra Dragomir Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie (born 24 October 1972) is a retired tennis player from Romania. She won four singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour during her career. The right-hander reached her highest individual WTA ranking on 25 August 199 ...
in June 2000. During her run, she beat two players ranked inside the top 40. The following month, Cîrstea played in the junior tournament of the
2007 French Open The 2007 French Open (Roland Garros) was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June 2007. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Björn Borg, 1978–81; and maintained his unbeaten run at Rola ...
where she reached the doubles final with
Alexa Glatch Alexa Glatch (born September 10, 1989) is an American former tennis player. Junior career She started playing tennis at the age of five. As a junior player, she won the prestigious Easter Bowl title in the Girls-14s and Girls-18s divisions and ...
, losing to the third seeds
Ksenia Milevskaya Ksenia Milevskaya (; ; born 9 August 1990) is a former tennis player from Belarus. On 9 June 2007, Milevskaya and Urszula Radwańska won the 2007 French Open – Girls' doubles title, beating Sorana Cîrstea and Alexa Glatch in the final, and o ...
and
Urszula Radwańska Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and eleven doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reac ...
. She competed for Romania in the women's singles at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
, losing in the first round to
Shahar Pe'er Shahar Pe'er (, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player. Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the International Tennis Federation, ITF circuit in her career ...
. In October 2008, Cîrstea won her first WTA title in
Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...
by defeating fourth seed and world No. 64,
Sabine Lisicki Sabine Katharina Lisicki (; born 22 September 1989) is a German inactive professional tennis player. Lisicki turned professional in 2006, and her breakthrough came in 2009 when she reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships � ...
, in three sets. She also won her first two WTA titles in doubles that year. At the end of 2008, she was No. 36 in the WTA singles rankings and the No. 1 Romanian, aged only 18 years.


2009: First major quarterfinals at Roland Garros

Cîrstea began new season by losing to
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...
at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
, in straight sets. In the doubles tournament, she partnered
Vera Dushevina Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina (; born 6 October 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. As a junior, she won the Wimbledon Championships, beating Maria Sharapova in ...
and reached the second round, defeating Kuznetsova/Petrova before losing to Black/Huber. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she lost in the first singles round to
Melinda Czink Melinda Czink (born 22 October 1982) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. On 21 September 2009, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 37. Czink reached two WTA Tour singles finals. In 2005, she lost to Ana I ...
, but reached the second round of the doubles with
Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She has won three singles and 10 dou ...
, defeating Ditty/Gullickson and losing to Dechy/Santangelo. Cîrstea lost in the first rounds of the Open GdF Suez and Dubai Championships, to
Nathalie Dechy Nathalie Dechy (born 21 February 1979) is a former professional tennis player from France. Dechy is a three-time doubles Grand Slam champion, winning the 2006 US Open women's doubles title with Vera Zvonareva, the 2007 French Open mixed doubl ...
and
Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
respectively. In doubles, she again partnered Monica Niculescu in Suez, reaching the semifinals before injury forced them to lose in a walkover to Peschke/Raymond. In Dubai, she partnered
Arina Rodionova Arina Ivanovna Rodionova (; born 15 December 1989) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. On 5 February 2024, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 97. On 27 July 2015, she peaked at No. 41 in the doubles ra ...
and they lost in the first round to Kirilenko/Radwańska. Cîrstea received a bye in the first round at Indian Wells, but lost in the second to
Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...
. In the doubles tournament, she partnered
Galina Voskoboeva Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva (; born 18 December 1984) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani former tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 42 in singles and No. 26 in doubles. Career Born in Moscow, Voskoboeva turned pro in 2002. Du ...
and lost in the first round to Mattek-Sands/Washington. Cîrstea finished her hardcourt season with a loss in the first round of the Miami Open to the qualifier
Mariya Koryttseva Mariya Serhiyivna Koryttseva (; born 25 May 1985) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. On 18 August 2008, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 50. On 23 June 2008, she peaked at No. 39 in the doubles rankings. Career Kory ...
. Her doubles effort in Miami with
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
also ended in the first round, with a loss to Kuznetsova/Mauresmo. Her clay-court season began at the inaugural
Andalucia Tennis Experience The Andalucia Tennis Experience was a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. The inaugural edition was in 2009. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is an International tournament on ...
in Marbella. She reached the semifinals, defeating Ioana Olaru, Andreja Klepač and
Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam up ...
before losing to
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a best WTA doubles ranking of 11, o ...
. In the doubles, she partnered Ioana Olaru and they reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Hercog/Ulirova. At the Barcelona Ladies Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round of the singles tournament to
Anastasiya Yakimova Anastasiya Yakimova (; ; born 1 November 1986) is a former tennis player from Belarus. She made it to the third round of the 2007 Australian Open, defeating Ai Sugiyama, a seeded player, on the way in the second round. The last tournament on t ...
, but reached the finals of the doubles tournament with
Andreja Klepač Andreja Klepač (born 13 March 1986) is a Slovenian former tennis player. On 14 July 2008, she reached her career-high singles rankings of world No. 99. On 11 April 2022, she peaked at No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings. She qualified also with ...
. They defeated Grönefeld/Senoglu, Ani/Voráčová, and Hlaváčková/Hradecká, before falling to Vives/Sanchez in the final. A week later, at Fes, Cîrstea again lost in the first round of the singles tournament, to
Lourdes Domínguez Lino Lourdes Domínguez Lino (; born 31 March 1981) is a former tennis player from Spain. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 40 in singles and 45 in doubles. Biography Tennis career In the 1999 Roland Garros, she won the junior girls' s ...
, and again reached the finals of the doubles tournament, with
Maria Kirilenko Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲenkə, a=Ru-Maria_Kirilenko.ogg; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champio ...
. Cîrstea/Kirilenko defeated Fernandez-Brugues/Thorpe, Czink/Keothavong, and Hercog/Olaru, before losing to Kleybanova/Makarova in three sets. At the Estoril Open, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinals of the singles tournament, defeating
Kimiko Date-Krumm is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...
and
Maret Ani Maret Ani (born 31 January 1982) is a retired tennis player from Estonia. At the start of 2006, she was the top-ranked player in Estonia, before losing that spot to Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive profes ...
, before falling to the eventual champion
Yanina Wickmayer Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals at the 2009 US Open – Women's singles, 2009 US Open, and a career-high WTA ranking of No. 12, on 19 April 2010. In doubles, she achieve ...
. In the doubles, she again partnered Kirilenko, defeating Ivanova/Yakimova, before losing to Coin/Pelletier in the quarterfinals. At
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, she lost in the first rounds of both the singles and the doubles tournaments, falling to
Alona Bondarenko Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok (; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her sisters Valeria and Kateryna Bondarenko are also tennis players. Her career-high singles ranking is No. 19, achieved on 14 April 2008. Alo ...
in two sets in the singles, and partnering
Vladimíra Uhlířová Vladimíra Uhlířová (born 4 May 1978) is a retired Czech tennis player. In her career, she won five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In October 2003, she reached her best singles ranki ...
in the doubles to lose to Makarova/Kudrayvtseva in the super-tiebreaker. Cîrstea then had her breakthrough tournament at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. She began with wins over
Carly Gullickson Carly Gullickson (born November 26, 1986) is an American former professional tennis player. Her best singles ranking is No. 123, which she reached in July 2009. Her career-high doubles ranking is No. 52, achieved in April 2006 at age 19. She i ...
and an upset of the 21st seed
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. She has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circuit. ...
to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. She then defeated her doubles partner Wozniacki, the tenth seed. Cîrstea continued her unlikely run with a 3–6, 6–0, 9–7 upset over the fifth-seeded
Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the W ...
to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she faced the 30th seed
Sam Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur (born 30 March 1984) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and ...
, losing in straight sets. Her doubles effort with Wozniacki ended in the first round with a loss to Pennetta/Kirilenko. At the Rosmalen Open in the Netherlands, she defeated Niculescu in three sets but lost in the second round to Yanina Wickmayer. She paired with
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...
for the doubles tournament, defeating Grönefeld/Niculescu in the first round and losing to Errani/Pennetta in the second round. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Cîrstea was seeded 28th. She defeated
Edina Gallovits Klaudia Edina Gallovits-Hall (née Gallovits; born December 10, 1984) is a Romanian-born American former tennis player. Her career-high ranking of No. 54 she achieved on 28 April 2008. She represented Romania until April 2015, then started playi ...
and
Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian former professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles ...
in the first two rounds, but lost to the eighth seed
Victoria Azarenka Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka (born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), having held the position for a total of 51 weeks ...
in the third round. In the doubles, she once again partnered Wozniacki, but lost in the second round to Koryttseva/Poutchek. At the
Swedish Open The Swedish Open is a professional tennis tournament held in Båstad, Sweden. It is played on outdoor clay courts in July. The men's event (sponsored by Skistar) is an ATP Tour 250 tournament on the ATP Tour. The women's event (sponsored by ...
in Båstad, Cîrstea defeated the qualifier
Johanna Larsson Johanna Larsson (; born 17 August 1988) is a Swedish former tennis player. In her career, she won two singles and 14 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, with 13 singles and 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her career-high WTA rankin ...
before losing to
Gisela Dulko Gisela Dulko (; born 30 January 1985) is an Argentine former tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA Tour, WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where s ...
in the second round. She and Wozniacki lost in the second round to Kondratieva/Lefevre. Two weeks later, Cîrstea lost in the first round of the Stanford Classic to
Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
. Partnering Maria Kirilenko, she reached the semifinals of the doubles, defeating Granville/Gullickson and Coin/Pelletier, before losing to Chan/Niculescu. Cîrstea had another improbable run at the LA Championships in August. She upset Wozniacki and Radwańska, despite Radwańska serving for the match in the third set, but lost to Stosur in the semifinals. Cîrstea/Wozniacki lost in the first round of the doubles to Chang/Yan. At the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
, she defeated
Meghann Shaughnessy Meghann Shaughnessy (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in 2001 and won six titles on the WTA Tour. Her best doubles ranking was world No. 4, and she ...
and
Anna-Lena Grönefeld Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; married name Herzgerodt; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 M ...
before losing to the fourth seed
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 3 in women's singles and world No. 5 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Dem ...
, but achieved a career high ranking of No. 23. At the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
, Cîrstea was seeded 24th. She defeated
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed gro ...
and
Stéphanie Dubois Stéphanie Dubois (born October 31, 1986) is a former tennis player from Canada. She turned professional in 2004 and achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 87 in January 2012. Dubois was awarded Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada tw ...
before losing in the third round to the eventual finalist Wozniacki, the No. 9 seed and her doubles partner. Cîrstea/Wozniacki defeated Bammer/Schruff and Azarenka/Zvonareva before losing in the third round to the eventual champions, Williams/Williams. After the US Open, Cîrstea lost her next five matches, in the Korea Open,
Pan Pacific Open The Pan Pacific Open, currently sponsored by Toray Industries, is a women's outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, Japan. It is a WTA 500-level tournament. History The tournament was first held in 1973 as the Toray Sillook Ch ...
, China Open,
Linz Open The Linz Open, currently "Upper Austria Ladies Linz" and formerly sponsored by Generali Gruppe, is a women's tennis tournament held in Linz, Austria. It is played on indoor hardcourts. The inaugural event took place in 1987 in Wels, Austria and w ...
and
Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup () is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA Tour. It was held annually at the ...
. She finished 2009 ranked No.43 in the world, with a 21–24 match record.


2010: Struggles with form

In the
2010 Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup XXII (also known as the Hyundai Hopman Cup for sponsorship reasons) corresponds to the 22nd edition of the Hopman Cup tournament between nations in men's and women's tennis. The tournament started on 2 January 2010 at the Burswoo ...
in early January, Cîrstea played with
Victor Hănescu Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26. Professional career Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. In a Davis Cu ...
. Romania were seeded sixth and finished last in their group, winning against the Australian team of Sam Stosur and
Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
, but losing to the Spains
María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. In singles, she won five WTA Tour titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two former world ...
and
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
, the eventual champions, and the American team of
Melanie Oudin Melanie Jennings Oudin (born September 23, 1991) is an American former professional tennis player. The former world junior No. 2 was a member of the United States Fed Cup team, American Fed Cup team from 2009 to 2011 and the winner of the 2011 U ...
and
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
. Cîrstea posted a three-set win over Stosur and, with Hanescu, a 7–5, 6–1 win over Stosur and Hewitt. She lost in straight sets to Martínez Sánchez and Oudin. She easily lost in the first round of the Hobart tournament to
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; ; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 doubles player by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA ...
. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she defeated
Olivia Rogowska Olivia Rogowska (; born 7 June 1991) is an Australian former tennis player. Both of her parents are Polish. The right-hander was born in and lives in Melbourne. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 102, achieved on 11 August 2014. He ...
, and lost in the second round to
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career, she won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour. ...
. She partnered
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...
in the doubles tournament, losing to Kirilenko/Radwańska in the first round 0–6, 7–6, 2–6. Her next tournament was the Open GdF Suez in Paris, where she fell to Oudin 3–6, 0–6. She lost in straight sets in the first rounds of the
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
,
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
, and
Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
tournaments, to
Francesca Schiavone Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had career-high rankings of world No. 4 in women's singles and No. 8 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Schiavone won eight W ...
,
Sharon Fichman Sharon Fichman ( ; born December 3, 1990) is a Canadian former tennis player. She achieved career-high WTA rankings of 77 in singles (May 2014) and 21 in doubles (January 2022). In 2005, Fichman won the gold medal in women's singles at the 200 ...
, and
Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...
, respectively. At Indian Wells she reached the second round, first defeating Kaia Kanepi, before losing to
Zheng Jie Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15. Zheng is one of China's most successful tennis players. She won four singles titles on the ...
. Two weeks later at the Miami Open, Cîrstea defeated
Michelle Larcher de Brito Micaela Carolina Larcher de Brito (born 29 January 1993), known by the anglicized name Michelle Larcher de Brito, is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. She is the former Portuguese No. 1. Larcher de Brito won four singles titles on ...
before losing in the second round to the third seed
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...
. In the clay-court season, Cîrstea prevailed over the sixth seed Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the
Andalucia Tennis Experience The Andalucia Tennis Experience was a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. The inaugural edition was in 2009. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is an International tournament on ...
. She then lost in the second round to her fellow Romanian
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 64 w ...
. At the Barcelona Open, she defeated
Tamira Paszek Tamira Shelah Paszek (born 6 December 1990) is an Austrian tennis player. On 11 February 2013, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. On 6 May 2013, she peaked at No. 93 in the doubles rankings. Paszek has won three single ...
, but lost in the second round to
Iveta Benešová Iveta Benešová () (formerly Melzer, ; born 1 February 1983) is a Czech former tennis player. She began playing tennis aged seven and turned professional in 1998. She won two WTA Tour singles and 14 doubles tournaments, and one Grand Slam tit ...
, in straight sets. Cîrstea was seeded second at the Estoril Open and defeated her compatriot Ioana Olaru in the first round and Larcher de Brito in the second. In the quarterfinals, she beat
Arantxa Rus Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch professional tennis player. She won one WTA Tour singles title at the 2023 Hamburg European Open – Women's singles, 2023 Hamburg Open and four in doubles. Her biggest singles successes to date ...
6–4, 6–1, but fell to
Arantxa Parra Santonja Arantxa Parra Santonja (; born 9 November 1982) is a Spanish former tennis player. She turned professional in 2000 and retired in 2019. In her career, Parra Santonja won eleven doubles titles on the WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the ...
in the semifinals. In the doubles, she partnered
Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2009, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
to win the tournament, beating Peng/Zhang, Manasieva/Olaru and Diatchenko/Vedy. Cîrstea lost to Flavia Pennetta in three sets in the first round of the Madrid Open. Two weeks later, she qualified for the
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
tournament, losing to
Elena Baltacha Elena Sergeevna Baltacha (; 14 August 1983 – 4 May 2014) was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term British No. 1, a position she held intermittently ...
in the first round. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she lost in the first round to the defending champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Kuznetsova won 18 singl ...
. At
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, she defeated Francesca Schiavone, losing in the second round to Kuznetsova in three sets. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, she was defeated by
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
in the first round. At the
Budapest Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix (previously ''Budapest Grand Prix'') was a women's tennis tournament held in Budapest, Hungary. It was a WTA 250 tournament played on the WTA Tour on outdoor clay court since 1996. The tournament was formerly known as '' ...
, she lost in the first round to the qualifier
Zuzana Ondrášková Zuzana Ondrášková (born 3 May 1980) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Career On 9 February 2004, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 74. Her career included wins over several top players, inclu ...
. She lost in the quarterfinals at the
İstanbul Cup The İstanbul Cup (also known as the TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship İstanbul for sponsorship reasons) was a Women's Tennis Association, WTA tennis tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey, organised for professional female tennis players. It was ...
to Pavlyuchenkova and the Danish Open to
Klára Zakopalová Klara may refer to: * Klara, a female given name, see Clara (given name) * Klara (radio), a classical-music radio station in Belgium * Klara (singer), birth name Klára Vytisková (born 1985), Czech singer * Klara (Stockholm), an area of centra ...
. At
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, she lost in the first round to
Sybille Bammer Sybille Bammer (born 27 April 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. Her career-high ranking is No. 19, which she achieved on 17 December 2007. She was one of three mothers on the WTA Tour, having taken time off at age 21 to ...
. At the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
, Cîrstea lost to
Sofia Arvidsson Lena Sofia Alexandra Arvidsson (born 16 February 1984) is a Swedish professional padel player and a former tennis player. In her tennis career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 20 singles and 13 doubl ...
in the first round. She ended the year as world No. 93 in the WTA rankings.


2011: Re-entering top 60

At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Cîrstea defeated
Mirjana Lučić Mirjana (; ) is a South Slavic feminine given name. The name is widespread throughout Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia and North Macedonia. Mirjana is a form of Miryam. The name is also related to ′'' mir''′ ...
before she was beaten by
Shahar Pe'er Shahar Pe'er (, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player. Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the International Tennis Federation, ITF circuit in her career ...
in the second round. In the doubles tournament, she played with
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles ...
and defeated the team of
Sarah Borwell Sarah Leah Borwell (born 20 August 1979) is an English former professional tennis player who enjoyed her greatest success in doubles. She was the British number one in doubles. Her career-high doubles ranking is 65, set on 9 August 2010, ...
and
Marie-Ève Pelletier Marie-Ève Pelletier (; born May 18, 1982) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of 106 in singles and 54 in doubles. Tennis career 1998–2013 Marie-Ève played ...
, in three sets. In the second round they lost to
Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF Women's Circuit, ITF doubles titles. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked dou ...
and
Anastasia Rodionova Anastasia Ivanovna Rodionova (; born 12 May 1982) is a Russian-born Australian former professional tennis player. Rodionova has won 11 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as eight singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 Au ...
. In the U.S. National Indoors, Cîrstea defeated Catherine Harrison in the first round, before she lost to Shahar Pe'er in the second. In doubles, she and her partner
Anastasia Pivovarova Anastasia Olegovna Pivovarova (, born 16 June 1990) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. She reached a career-high ranking of 93, in May 2011. During a successful junior career, she was ranked as high as No. 2. Career Pivovarova ...
lost in the first round to
Andrea Hlaváčková Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ...
/
Lucie Hradecká Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She w ...
. At the Mexican Open, Cîrstea defeated
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (née Mayr; born 8 November 1986) is a retired Austrian tennis player. Mayr-Achleitner won 17 singles titles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 4 May 2009, she reached her best singles r ...
before she lost to
Laura Pous Tió Laura Pous Tió (born 1 October 1984) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. Career Pous Tió won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería by defeating compatriot Nuria Llagostera Vives in straight sets. She won a ...
. Sorana played doubles again now with
Andreja Klepač Andreja Klepač (born 13 March 1986) is a Slovenian former tennis player. On 14 July 2008, she reached her career-high singles rankings of world No. 99. On 11 April 2022, she peaked at No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings. She qualified also with ...
as a partner. They won the first round by defeated
Eleni Daniilidou Eleni Daniilidou (; ; born 19 September 1982) is a Greek former tennis player from the island of Crete. She is considered one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tou ...
/
Jasmin Wöhr Jasmin Wöhr (; born 21 August 1980) is a German former tennis player. Biography During her career, Wöhr won four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and in addition one singles title and 23 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 14 December ...
. They lost in the second round to
Irina-Camelia Begu Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA ranking, WTA singles ranking of world No. 22 , in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest ranking in doubles, also No. 22. She is ...
/
Alexandra Panova Alexandra Alexandrovna Panova (; born 2 March 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of world No. 30 achieved on 28 October 2024. She peaked at No. 71 in singles on 3 ...
. Cîrstea qualified in singles for the
Indian Wells Open The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California, United States. It is played on outdoor hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and is held in March. The tournament is pa ...
. In the first round she lost to
Alla Kudryavtseva Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (; born 3 November 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player. Kudryavtseva won one singles title and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circ ...
. In the Sony Ericsson Open, Sorana received a wildcard in singles, but lost in the first round to Zheng Jie. At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, she lost in the first round to Sara Errani, in three sets. She paired with
Maria Elena Camerin Maria Elena Camerin (born 21 March 1982) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. In her career, Camerin won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as ten singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 11 October 2004 ...
for the doubles tournament defeating
Alberta Brianti Alberta Brianti (born 5 April 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. On 13 June 2011, Brianti achieved her career-high singles ranking of 55. On 13 February 2012, she peaked at No. 68 in the doubles rankings. She won one sin ...
/ Aurélie Védy. They lost in the second round to Errani/Vinci. In the following months, Sorana didn't have good results until she won
Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer The Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer was a tennis tournament held in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. Founded in 1998, this ITF Circuit event was a $80,000 tournament. It started off being a $10,000 event back in 1998 but has slowly increased the prize money and i ...
, a $100k tournament with a lot of top-100 players. She beat
Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011
is a Swiss reti ...
in the first round and compatriot
Alexandra Dulgheru Alexandra Dulgheru (; born 30 May 1989) is a former professional tennis player from Romania. On 11 April 2011, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. Her best ranking in doubles is No. 41, which she reached on 4 July 2011. ...
in the second of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
before losing to
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association. Li won nine WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two Grand Slam (t ...
, in straight sets. She then made it into the main draw of the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
, where she lost in straight sets to
Pauline Parmentier Pauline Parmentier (; born 31 January 1986) is a French former tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is 40, which she attained on 21 July 2008. On 30 April 2012, she peaked at No. 89 on the WTA doubles rankings. She won four singl ...
. Sorana played doubles again with
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed gro ...
of Japan defeating
Chuang Chia-jung Chuang Chia-jung (; ; born 10 January 1985) is a Taiwanese former tennis player. In her career, she won 22 doubles titles on the WTA Tour and three doubles titles on tournaments of the WTA Challenger Tour, as well as ten singles and 33 do ...
/
Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei (; ; born 4 January 1986) is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in Doubles tennis, doubles with nine Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles, she is rega ...
. They won their second round against
Sophie Lefèvre Sophie Lefèvre (born 23 February 1981 in Toulouse) is a retired French tennis player. On 15 September 2003, she reached her career-high WTA ranking of 216 in singles. Her highest doubles ranking was 76, reached on 21 February 2011. Lefèvre r ...
/
Evgeniya Rodina Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina (, born 4 February 1989) is an inactive Russian tennis player. On 6 May 2019, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 67. Rodina has won 13 singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit alo ...
. They lost in third round to Sabine Lisicki/Sam Stosur. In Båstad at the Swedish Open, Cîrstea defeated Mirjana Lučić in the first round. She lost in the second round to
Vesna Dolonc Vesna Ratkovna Dolonc (Serbian Cyrillic and ; née Manasieva, Манасиева; born 21 July 1989) is a retired Serbian tennis player. She earned career-highs of 84 in singles and 93 in doubles. Career Dolonc began competing on the ITF Circ ...
. At the Internationali di Palermo, Sorana won her first round match against Andrea Hlaváčková. She lost then to
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarians, Bulgarian former tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been noted for her "cerebral" skills on the surface, reachi ...
. At the ITF Bucharest, Cîrstea beat her compatriots
Diana Enache Diana Enache (born 12 December 1987; formerly known as Diana Buzean) is a Romanian former tennis player. In her career, she won 13 singles and 49 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 11 April 2011, she reached her best singles ranking ...
and
Mădălina Gojnea Mădălina-Victorița Gojnea (born 23 August 1987) is a former Romanian tennis player. On 4 July 2011, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 149 whilst her best doubles ranking was 191 on 9 July 2007. In 2013, at only 25 years old, sh ...
, before losing in the third round to
Laura Pous Tió Laura Pous Tió (born 1 October 1984) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. Career Pous Tió won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería by defeating compatriot Nuria Llagostera Vives in straight sets. She won a ...
. She then played at the Carlsbad Open in California where she was beaten by CoCo Vandeweghe in a close match in the first round. Next tournament in Cincinnati, she qualified in singles for the main draw. In the first round she defeated
Ksenia Pervak Ksenia Yuryevna Pervak (; born 27 May 1991) is a former tennis player from Russia. Pervak won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 19 September 2011, she reached her best si ...
, but lost in the second to
Jill Craybas Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam tournament main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon C ...
in the third set tiebreaker. In Dallas, the inaugural tournament of Texas Tennis Open, Cîrstea beat Jarmila Gajdošová in the first round, in the second she lost to
Aravane Rezaï Aravane Rezaï (; ''Arghavān-e Rezāyi'' , born 14 March 1987) is an Iranian–French professional tennis player. She has defeated many top players on the WTA Tour, such as Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharap ...
. She played doubles for the first time with
Alberta Brianti Alberta Brianti (born 5 April 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. On 13 June 2011, Brianti achieved her career-high singles ranking of 55. On 13 February 2012, she peaked at No. 68 in the doubles rankings. She won one sin ...
of Italy. In the first round they defeated Kateryna&
Alona Bondarenko Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok (; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her sisters Valeria and Kateryna Bondarenko are also tennis players. Her career-high singles ranking is No. 19, achieved on 14 April 2008. Alo ...
and in the second
Andreja Klepač Andreja Klepač (born 13 March 1986) is a Slovenian former tennis player. On 14 July 2008, she reached her career-high singles rankings of world No. 99. On 11 April 2022, she peaked at No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings. She qualified also with ...
/
Tatiana Poutchek Tatiana Poutchek (; ; born 9 January 1979) is a retired tennis player and current captain of the Belarus Billie Jean King Cup team. Her career-high ranking is No. 55 in the world, achieved on 22 July 2002. Many of Poutchek's greatest career res ...
. In the semifinal match, they beat Sofia Arvidsson/Casey Dellacqua in straight sets. They won their final match and the title by defeating Alizé Cornet/Pauline Parmentier. Cîrstea won her fourth career doubles title, while Brianti won her second. At the US Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round to Yanina Wickmayer. She paired with
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed gro ...
of Japan in doubles. They defeated Casey Dellacqua and
Rennae Stubbs Rennae Stubbs (born 26 March 1971) is an Australian former professional tennis player, coach and television commentator. She was ranked number 1 in the world in doubles, and the winner of 4 major doubles titles and 2 mixed doubles titles as wel ...
in the first round, but lost in the second to
María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. In singles, she won five WTA Tour titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two former world ...
and Anabel Medina Garrigues. In Uzkebistan, she defeated
Bojana Jovanovski Bojana may refer to: Places * Bojana (river), a river in Albania and Montenegro (known as ''Buna'' in Albanian) * Ada Bojana / Bojana Island, an island in Montenegro * Bojana, Croatia, a village near Čazma Name * Bojana (given name), a Slavic ...
and
Aleksandra Krunić Aleksandra Krunić ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Крунић; born 15 March 1993) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She is a Grand Slam doubles finalist at the 2025 French Open, partnering Anna Danilina. In June 2018, she reached her b ...
, but lost in the third round to Alla Kudryavtseva. Cîrstea played doubles too with Pauline Parmentier, but they lost in the first round to
Iryna Brémond Iryna Brémond (née Kuryanovich) (; ; born 5 October 1984) is a French former tennis player. Her highest WTA ranking in singles is 93, which she reached on 20 February 2012. Her career-high in doubles is 162, achieved on 25 June 2007. Brémon ...
/
Mandy Minella Mandy Minella (born 22 November 1985) is a Luxembourgish politician and former professional tennis player. Having made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001, she peaked at No. 66 in the WTA singles rankings in September 2012, and No. 47 in doubles ...
. Cîrstea won the title in the Open de Bretagne in Saint-Malo, France. She defeated
Estrella Cabeza Candela Estrella Cabeza Candela (; born 20 February 1987) is a former Spanish tennis player. During her career, Cabeza Candela won 13 singles and 16 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 13 May 2013, she reached her best singles ranking of worl ...
,
Eva Fernández Brugués Eva Fernández Brugués (; born 5 May 1986) is a Spanish former tennis player. On 19 October 2009, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 185 whilst her best doubles ranking by the Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tenni ...
, Laura Pous Tió and
Stefanie Vögele Stefanie Vögele (born 10 March 1990) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 11 November 2013. Her highest WTA rankings, WTA ranking in doubles is 100, which she reached on 5 January ...
, before beating Silvia Soler Espinosa in straight sets. In the
Generali Ladies Linz The Linz Open, currently "Upper Austria Ladies Linz" and formerly sponsored by Generali Gruppe, is a women's tennis tournament held in Linz, Austria. It is played on indoor hardcourts. The inaugural event took place in 1987 in Wels, Austria and w ...
, Cîrstea played in the qualifying draw with great victories. She beat
Nikola Hofmanova Nikola Hofmanova (born 3 February 1991, as Nikola Hofmanová) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Hofmanova was born in Chomutov Chomutov (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 in ...
and Silvia Soler Espinosa before she defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6–1, 6–2. In the first main-draw rounds, she beat
Tamira Paszek Tamira Shelah Paszek (born 6 December 1990) is an Austrian tennis player. On 11 February 2013, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. On 6 May 2013, she peaked at No. 93 in the doubles rankings. Paszek has won three single ...
and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the fourth seed of the tournament, before she lost in third round to
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles ...
. In France, Cîrstea won a $50k tournament featuring top 100 players where she defeated
Paula Ormaechea Paula Ormaechea (; born 28 September 1992) is an Argentine tennis player based in Italy. She has won sixteen singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 21 October 2013, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 59.World ...
, Stefanie Vögele,
Michaëlla Krajicek Michaëlla Krajicek (; born 9 January 1989) is a Dutch former tennis player. She has won three singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one WTA 125 tournaments, WTA 125 doubles title, and 14 titles in singles and 24 in double ...
,
Akgul Amanmuradova Akgul Charievna Amanmuradova (; born June 23, 1984) is an inactive professional tennis player from Uzbekistan. At 1.90 metres in height, she is one of the tallest female tennis players in history. Amanmuradova has won two doubles titles ...
, and Sofia Arvidsson. At the end of the year, she was in 60th place in the WTA rankings.


2012: Ascent to top 30

Cîrstea began 2012 ranked 60 in the world. Her first tournament at
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, she lost in the first round to Flavia Pennetta. In doubles, she partnered with
Darija Jurak Darija Jurak Schreiber (née Jurak; ; born 5 April 1984) is a Croatian former tennis player. Her career-high doubles ranking is world No. 9, achieved on 15 November 2021. Her best WTA ranking in singles is 188 which she reached in April 2004. ...
of Croatia; they lost their first-round match to
Kristina Barrois Kristina Barrois (born 30 September 1981) is a German former tennis player. Barrois won 15 singles and 16 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 9 May 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 57. On 20 Febru ...
/
Anna-Lena Grönefeld Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; married name Herzgerodt; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 M ...
. At Hobart, Cîrstea defeated
Ksenia Pervak Ksenia Yuryevna Pervak (; born 27 May 1991) is a former tennis player from Russia. Pervak won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 19 September 2011, she reached her best si ...
in the first and
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
in the second. In third round, Cîrstea lost to
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
despite having two match points. In doubles, she paired again with
Darija Jurak Darija Jurak Schreiber (née Jurak; ; born 5 April 1984) is a Croatian former tennis player. Her career-high doubles ranking is world No. 9, achieved on 15 November 2021. Her best WTA ranking in singles is 188 which she reached in April 2004. ...
. They beat
Kristina Barrois Kristina Barrois (born 30 September 1981) is a German former tennis player. Barrois won 15 singles and 16 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 9 May 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 57. On 20 Febru ...
/
Jasmin Wöhr Jasmin Wöhr (; born 21 August 1980) is a German former tennis player. Biography During her career, Wöhr won four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and in addition one singles title and 23 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 14 December ...
in straight sets. Cîrstea/Jurak lost in second round to Irina-Camelia Begu/Monica Niculescu. At the Australian Open, Cîrstea eliminated sixth seed Sam Stosur. In the second round, she beat Urszula Radwańska before she lost to Sara Errani in a match tainted by an early back injury. In doubles, Sorana played with Lucie Šafářová again, but they lost to ninth seeds
Natalie Grandin Natalie Grandin (born 27 February 1981) is a retired tennis player from South Africa. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of 144 as of 12 September 2005. On 14 May 2012, she peaked at No. 22 in the doubles rankings. In her career, she ...
/
Vladimíra Uhlířová Vladimíra Uhlířová (born 4 May 1978) is a retired Czech tennis player. In her career, she won five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In October 2003, she reached her best singles ranki ...
. At the Pattaya Open, Cîrstea was seeded seventh. She defeated
Erika Sema
Retrieved 3 July 2010. is a Japanese professional
Misaki Doi is a Japanese former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA rankings are No. 30 in singles and No. 77 in doubles. Doi reached two junior Grand Slam doubles finals – at Wimbledon in 2007 with Kurumi Nara, and at the Australian Open in ...
in the second by the same scoreline. In the quarterfinals, she defeated top seeded and world No. 8, Vera Zvonareva, who was forced to retire with a hip injury in the third set. She lost in the semifinals to Maria Kirilenko. In Doha, Cîrstea beat
Jarmila Gajdošová Jarmila Wolfe (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player. In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on ...
in the first round. In the second round, she lost to third seed Samantha Stosur. Sorana paired with
Anne Keothavong Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a British former tennis player. In her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved February 2009). Sh ...
in doubles, but they lost in the first round to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. At the Abierto de Monterrey, Cîrstea was the third seed in the tournament and received a wildcard in singles. In the first round, she beat Stefanie Vögele in three sets. Sorana lost in the second round to eventual champion
Tímea Babos Tímea Babos (; born 10 May 1993) is a Hungarian professional tennis player who is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She has won three WTA Tour titles in singles and 27 in doubles. Babos is a f ...
. Cîrstea was the 48th seed at the Indian Wells Open. She defeated Iveta Benešová in the first round, losing in the second to Agnieszka Radwańska. In Miami, she lost her first-round match to wildcard
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles, 2016 ...
in three sets. At the Barcelona Ladies Open, her first tournament on clay, Sorana was the 47th seed. In the first round, she beat
Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also has had ...
after she retired due to dizziness. Sorana defeated
Lourdes Domínguez Lino Lourdes Domínguez Lino (; born 31 March 1981) is a former tennis player from Spain. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 40 in singles and 45 in doubles. Biography Tennis career In the 1999 Roland Garros, she won the junior girls' s ...
in the second round. In quarterfinals, Cîrstea beat
Olga Govortsova Olga Alekseyevna Govortsova ( (Volha Alyakseyeuna Havartsova); ; born 23 August 1988) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. On 23 June 2008, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 35. On 29 August 2011, she peaked at No. 2 ...
. She lost in her first semifinal of the tournament to Dominika Cibulková. In Stuttgart at the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest p ...
, Cîrstea lost in the first round to Anna Chakvetadze. At the
Portugal Open The Portugal Open (formerly named Estoril Open) was an ATP and WTA clay court tennis tournament in Portugal. The event took place at the sports complex of Jamor in Oeiras, of which Estoril Court Central is the most prominent show court. In 201 ...
, she lost in the first round to Silvia Soler Espinosa. At the Madrid Open, Sorana upset seventh seed
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title, after previously being runner-up in 2007 Wimbledo ...
in the first round before she lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Cîrstea defeated Jelena Janković in the first round and Sofia Arvidsson in the second before losing in three sets to Petra Kvitová. At Roland Garros, Sorana lost in the first round to Li Na. In doubles, she partnered with
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed gro ...
and they lost in first round to Pennetta/Schiavone 2–6, 0–2 due to Morita's retirement. Cîrstea began her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic. As the No. 10 seed, she lost in the first round to qualifier Melanie Oudin. In doubles, Sorana partnered with
Anne Keothavong Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a British former tennis player. In her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved February 2009). Sh ...
and they lost in first round to
Zhang Shuai Zhang Shuai ( zh , s = 张帅 , p = Zhāng Shuài ; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has a career-high doubles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 2, achieved in July 2022 and a singles ranking of No. 22 re ...
/Zheng Jie. In Eastbourne at the Aegon International, Sorana lost in the first round to defending champion No. 4 seed, Marion Bartoli. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Cîrstea defeated Pauline Parmentier in the first round. Sorana beat the 11th seed Li Na in the second round but lost to Maria Kirilenko. In doubles, Sorana and
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed gro ...
lost in the first round to Casey Dellacqua/Sam Stosur. She competed in the women's singles and the women's doubles (with Simona Halep) at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, but was eliminated in round one in both events. At the
Bank of the West Classic The Silicon Valley Classic was a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California. Started in 1971, the tournament was the oldest women's-only tournament in the world and was played on outdo ...
in San Jose, Sorana as the ninth seed beat Vania King and lucky loser
Zheng Saisai Zheng Saisai or Zheng Sai-Sai (; born 5 February 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 34, achieved on 2 March 2020, and a doubles ranking of No. 15, achieved on 11 July 2016. In her career, she wo ...
. In the third round, she defeated third seed Dominika Cibulková, in three sets, but lost in the semifinals to Serena Williams. At the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
, Cîrstea defeated 16th seed Sabine Lisicki, and in the second round, she lost to
Anna Tatishvili Anna Tatishvili ( ka, ანა ტატიშვილი, tr, ; born February 3, 1990) is a Georgian-American former professional tennis player. In her career, Tatishvili won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, 2014 at the Linz Open, partneri ...
in three sets. In
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, Cîrstea advanced to the semifinals before losing to Laura Robson.


2013: First Premier 5 final and career-best ranking at No. 21

Sorana began the year at the 2013 ASB Classic where she lost her opener to
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles, 2016 ...
. The following week, she defeated
Nina Bratchikova Nina Bratchikova (; born 28 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Bratchikova won one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and in addition nine singles and 35 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 10 December ...
before losing to
Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...
in the second round at
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
. Cîrstea reached the third round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
losing to Li Na. She then followed it up with a semifinal showing at the Pattaya Open losing to eventual champion Maria Kirilenko. She then reached the third round at Indian Wells where she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. At the
Sony Open The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian ...
in Miami, Cîrstea made the 4th round after defeating Angelique Kerber in straight sets. She fell to Jelena Janković (0–6, 4–6) in the next round. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she reached the third round losing to world No. 1 and eventual champion, Serena Williams. She then reached the quarterfinal of the
Aegon Classic The Lexus Birmingham Open (previously sponsored by Rothesay (insurer), Rothesay) is a WTA 125 tournaments, WTA 125 women's tennis tournament on the Women's Tennis Association, WTA Tour, and an ATP Challenger Tour 125 men's tournament since 20 ...
falling to
Donna Vekić Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 17 on 27 January 2025. Her best performance at a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major is reachin ...
. Cîrstea lost to
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 26, which was achieved on 22 October 2018. Giorgi was known for her aggressive style of pla ...
in the second round at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. She began the
US Open Series The US Open Series was the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It was part of the "North American hard-court season". ...
with a semifinal at the
Bank of the West Classic The Silicon Valley Classic was a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California. Started in 1971, the tournament was the oldest women's-only tournament in the world and was played on outdo ...
losing to Dominika Cibulková and a quarterfinal at the Washington Open losing to Alizé Cornet. In the Rogers Cup en route to reaching her first final in five years, Cîrstea beat two former number-one players, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Janković, and former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitová and Li Na. She lost to top-seeded Serena Williams in the final, 2–6, 0–6. She then withdrew from the Western & Southern Open citing a back injury, and later retired from her first round match at the New Haven Open while trailing 3–0 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She had reached now the 21st place in the WTA rankings. At the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
, she defeated qualifier
Sharon Fichman Sharon Fichman ( ; born December 3, 1990) is a Canadian former tennis player. She achieved career-high WTA rankings of 77 in singles (May 2014) and 21 in doubles (January 2022). In 2005, Fichman won the gold medal in women's singles at the 200 ...
before then being upset by qualifier Kurumi Nara 7–5, 6–1 in the second round. Her next tournament was the Guangzhou International Open where she suffered another early-round loss, this time to Bojana Jovanovski 2–6, 1–6. She advanced to the second round of the
Pan Pacific Open The Pan Pacific Open, currently sponsored by Toray Industries, is a women's outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, Japan. It is a WTA 500-level tournament. History The tournament was first held in 1973 as the Toray Sillook Ch ...
after beating Julia Görges. She then defeated
Misaki Doi is a Japanese former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA rankings are No. 30 in singles and No. 77 in doubles. Doi reached two junior Grand Slam doubles finals – at Wimbledon in 2007 with Kurumi Nara, and at the Australian Open in ...
before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round. She then lost her opening matches at
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
and
Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
to Bojana Jovanovski and Patricia Mayr-Achleitner. By the end of the year, she had lost her No. 1 Romanian position to rising star Simona Halep.


2014: Injuries and Fed Cup success

Cîrstea began her 2014 season at the Auckland Classic. Seeded fourth, she lost in the first round to qualifier
Sharon Fichman Sharon Fichman ( ; born December 3, 1990) is a Canadian former tennis player. She achieved career-high WTA rankings of 77 in singles (May 2014) and 21 in doubles (January 2022). In 2005, Fichman won the gold medal in women's singles at the 200 ...
. In
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier and eventual champion,
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarians, Bulgarian former tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been noted for her "cerebral" skills on the surface, reachi ...
. Seeded 21st at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she fell in the first round to
Marina Erakovic Marina Erakovic ( ; ; born 6 March 1988) is a former tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won a singles title at Memphis in February 2013, and eight doubles titles on the W ...
. Seeded third at the Pattaya Open, Cîrstea got her first win of the season by beating
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová Anna Karolína Schmiedlová (; born 13 September 1994) is a Slovak inactive professional tennis player. On 12 October 2015, she reached her best WTA singles ranking of world No. 26. She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour, two singles t ...
in the first round. She ended up losing in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist
Karolína Plíšková Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...
, despite having match points at 5–4 in the second set. At the Qatar Open, she was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by second seed Agnieszka Radwańska. The following week at the Dubai Championships, she defeated fourth seed,
Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...
, in the second round. She was beaten in the quarterfinals by eighth seed and 2011 champion,
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
. Seeded 25th at the
Indian Wells Masters The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California, United States. It is played on outdoor hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and is held in March. The tournament is pa ...
, she lost in the second round to qualifier
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 26, which was achieved on 22 October 2018. Giorgi was known for her aggressive style of pla ...
. Seeded 25th in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, she was defeated in the second round by Pironkova. Cîrstea began her clay-court season at the
Family Circle Cup The Charleston Open, currently sponsored by Credit One, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in America with a $1,064,510 purse. The t ...
in Charleston. Seeded eighth, she was ousted from the tournament in the second round by
Teliana Pereira Teliana Santos Pereira (born 20 July 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. On 19 April 2015, she became the first Brazilian in 27 years to win a title on the WTA Tour, beating Yaroslava Shvedova in Bogotá 7–6, 6–1. She ...
. At the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, she lost in the first round to German wildcard and 2011 champion,
Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
. Despite the poor form in WTA tournaments, in April, Cîrstea made a big contribution in 2014 Fed Cup World Group II Play-offs, helping Romania promote to World Group II after defeating Serbia 4–1, with Cîrstea winning both her ties against
Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...
and Bojana Jovanovski. At the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest p ...
, she lost in the first round to German wildcard
Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
. She took fifth seed Petra Kvitová to three sets in their opener at the Madrid Open but still lost 1–6, 7–5, 6–7. Then, Cîrstea succumbed to American qualifier Christina McHale in the first round at the Internazionali d'Italia. Cîrstea managed to end her losing streak at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
where she was the 26th seed. In the first round, she beat qualifier
Aleksandra Wozniak Aleksandra Wozniak (; born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian former tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005, and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 21 in June 2009, making her the fifth highest-ranked Canadian singles player of ...
and then
Teliana Pereira Teliana Santos Pereira (born 20 July 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. On 19 April 2015, she became the first Brazilian in 27 years to win a title on the WTA Tour, beating Yaroslava Shvedova in Bogotá 7–6, 6–1. She ...
. Cîrstea lost in the third round to sixth seed Jelena Janković, 1–6, 2–6. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Cîrstea was the 29th seed. In the first round, she lost to young American qualifier
Victoria Duval Victoria Duval (born 30 November 1995) is an inactive American tennis player. Duval has won one singles title and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In August 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of No. 87. In 2012, she had w ...
. Cîrstea was the top seed at
Baku Cup The Baku Cup was a professional women's tennis tournament held in Baku, Azerbaijan. It made its debut on the 2011 WTA Tour and as one of the international tier of events. This WTA Tour event is an international tournament and was played at the ...
and defeated Tunisian wildcard
Ons Jabeur Ons Jabeur (born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP ranking ...
in the first round but then lost to eventual semifinalist Stefanie Vögele 1–6, 1–6. Cîrstea was the eighth seed at the Washington Open. She defeated
Kiki Bertens Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings#Current rankings, singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest-ranked Dutch female playe ...
in the first round but then lost to Bojana Jovanovski. At the Rogers Cup, Cîrstea fell to 15th seed Lucie Šafářová in the first round failing to defend her finalist points from the year before. At the Western & Southern Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round to ninth seed and eventual finalist Ivanovic. After Cincinnati, Cîrstea got a wildcard for qualifying at the Connecticut Open. In the first round of qualifying, Cîrstea beat Alison Van Uytvanck. In the second round of qualifying, she lost to seventh seed Kaia Kanepi, in three sets. At the
US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...
, Cîrstea easily beat
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles, 2016 ...
in the first round 6–1, 6–1. In the second round, Cîrstea lost to seventh seed
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
. At the Guangzhou International Open, she lost in the first round to qualifier
Petra Martić Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings, singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and o ...
6–7, 1–6. At the
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Voyah) is a WTA 1000 tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its ...
, Cîrstea lost in the first round of qualifying to top seed
Zarina Diyas Zarina Diyas (; ; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as No. 31 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Diyas has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2017 Japan Women' ...
. Cîrstea's final tournament of the year was the China Open where she fell in the first round of qualifying to ninth seed
Ajla Tomljanović Ajla Tomljanović ( ; ; born 7 May 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. On 3 April 2023, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32. On 5 January 2015, she peaked at No. 47 in the doubles rankings. She has won four s ...
. At the end of the year, Cîrstea claimed that she had persistent small injuries particularly afflicting her shoulder. Cîrstea ended 2014 ranked 93 in her seventh straight top-100 season.


2015: Out of the top 100

Cîrstea was scheduled to start her season off at the Shenzhen Open, but she withdrew due to a shoulder injury. Her first tournament of the year was at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. She lost in the first round to qualifier
Alexandra Panova Alexandra Alexandrovna Panova (; born 2 March 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of world No. 30 achieved on 28 October 2024. She peaked at No. 71 in singles on 3 ...
. As a result, Cîrstea fell out of the top 100 for the first time since 2008. In February, Cîrstea competed at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic, a $100k event located in
Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in Midland County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 42,547 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland metropolitan statistical area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City ...
. As the second seed, Cîrstea was defeated in the first round by American
Jessica Pegula Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings in singles of world No. 3, achieved October 2022, and in doubles of world No. 1, set on 11 September 2023. Pegula reached the single ...
. During March, Cîrstea played at the Miami Open. Getting a wildcard for the main draw, Christina McHale beat her in the first round. Cîrstea stayed in Florida to play at the USTA Pro Circuit Event in Osprey where she lost in the first round to
Danka Kovinić Danka Kovinić ( sr-cyrl, Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player. On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 i ...
, in straight sets. Cîrstea competed next at the
Copa Colsanitas The Copa Colsanitas is a women's professional tennis tournament held in Bogotá, Colombia, at the Country Club de Bogotá. Held since 1998, this WTA 250 tournament is played on outdoor clay courts A clay court is one of the types of tennis c ...
. Her woes continued as she suffered another first round loss, this time at the hands of eighth seed Irina Falconi. However, partnering with
Yaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia. She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
in doubles, she won her first match of the year by beating
Mandy Minella Mandy Minella (born 22 November 1985) is a Luxembourgish politician and former professional tennis player. Having made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001, she peaked at No. 66 in the WTA singles rankings in September 2012, and No. 47 in doubles ...
/
Olga Savchuk Olga Mykolayivna Savchuk (; born 20 September 1987) is a retired tennis player from Ukraine. Savchuk grew up in the city of Makiyivka in Donetsk province. She resides in Nassau, Bahamas. Her best accomplishment to date was reaching the third ro ...
in the first round. Then, they lost to the eventual champions
Paula Cristina Gonçalves Paula Cristina de Araújo Gonçalves (born 11 August 1990) is a Brazilian former tennis player. In her career, she won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and 24 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Wo ...
/
Beatriz Haddad Maia Beatriz "Bia" Haddad Maia (; born 30 May 1996) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high of world No. 10 in singles and in doubles, becoming the first Brazilian woman to enter the top 10 in singles in the history of t ...
of Brazil in the quarterfinals. In May, Cîrstea traveled to France to compete at the Open Saint-Gaudens, an $60k event where she lost in the first round in three sets to
Wang Yafan Wang Yafan (; ; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016. In her career, she has won ...
. With the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
starting on Sunday, May 24th, Cîrstea traveled to Paris to play qualifying in order to qualify for the main draw. She won both of her qualifying matches to get to the final round of qualifying. Unfortunately, she suffered a straight set loss in the final round of qualifying to
Verónica Cepede Royg Verónica Cepede Royg (; born 21 January 1992) is a Paraguayan former tennis player. On 7 August 2017, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of No. 73. Her best doubles ranking is No. 85, achieved on 19 September 2016. Cepede Royg has wo ...
. Due to not qualifying for the French Open, Cîrstea broke her streak of main draw appearances dating back to the 2008 Australian Open. Since she had no success at the French Open, Cîrstea went to Italy to play at the Internazionali di Brescia, a $50k event. Even though she was the fourth seed, she was defeated in the first round by Italian qualifier
Claudia Giovine Claudia Giovine (; born 18 July 1990) is an Italian former tennis player. On 9 August 2010, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 257, whilst her best WTA doubles ranking is 190, achieved on 6 June 2011. In her career, Giovi ...
. After the tournament in Brescia, Cîrstea stayed in Italy to compete at the $25k event in Padua. She easily won her first-round match over Giorgia Marchetti. She then lost in the second round to qualifier Petra Uberalová. Next, Cîrstea went back to France to play the Open Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole Hérault, a $50k+H event in Montpellier. Here, Cîrstea lost in the first round to fourth seed
Richèl Hogenkamp Richèl Hogenkamp (born 16 April 1992) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 94, which she reached on 24 July 2017. On the ITF Circuit, she won 16 singles and 14 doubles titles. Personal background H ...
. Trying to qualify for the main draw, Cîrstea played qualifying for the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
. She won her first round over
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the ...
. She then lost in the next round to fourth seed
Sachia Vickery Sachia Vickery ( ; born May 11, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She reached a career-high of No. 73 in the WTA rankings on 30 July 2018. Vickery, a former USTA junior national champion, has also won three singles and three doub ...
. Due to no success at Wimbledon, Cîrstea competed at the Lorraine Open 88, a $100k event in Contrexéville, France. She reached the quarterfinals at this event beating fourth seed and compatriot Andreea Mitu and
Donna Vekić Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 17 on 27 January 2025. Her best performance at a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major is reachin ...
. She was defeated in the quarterfinals by eighth seed and eventual finalist Yulia Putintseva. Next, she traveled to her country to play at the 2015 BRD Bucharest Open – Singles, Bucharest Open; she also was given a wildcard into the main draw. Cîrstea started the tournament with a straight set victory over Sesil Karatantcheva. In the second round, she lost to compatriot Andreea Mitu in three sets. At the 2015 Powiat Poznański Open – Singles, Poznański Open, a $75k event in Sobota, Poland, Cîrstea suffered a straight set loss in the second round to third seed Richèl Hogenkamp. The week of 10 August saw Cîrstea compete at the first edition of the 2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Women's singles, Prague Open, a $75k event. She beat Czech Tereza Martincová in the first round. In the second round, she lost a tough three set match to wildcard Petra Cetkovská. Cîrstea failed to qualify for the 2015 US Open – Women's singles qualifying, US Open; she lost in the final round of qualifying to Mayo Hibi. Cîrstea fell in the first round of qualifying at the 2015 Japan Women's Open – Singles, Japan Open to third seed María Teresa Torró Flor. Her final tournament of the year was at the 2015 Ankara Cup – Singles, Ankara Cup, a $50k event in Turkey. She lost in the first round to fifth seed İpek Soylu. Cîrstea ended the year ranked 244.


2016: Comeback to top 100 and first Premier Mandatory quarterfinal in Madrid

Cîrstea began the year as world No. 244. In January, she played at $25k tournaments in Guaruja and Bertioga, both Brazil. In Guaruja, she beat Oleksandra Korashvili, Rebecca Šramková, Jil Teichmann, and third seed
Beatriz Haddad Maia Beatriz "Bia" Haddad Maia (; born 30 May 1996) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high of world No. 10 in singles and in doubles, becoming the first Brazilian woman to enter the top 10 in singles in the history of t ...
before losing to Montserrat Gonzalez in three sets in the final. At Bertioga, she beat Sandra Zaniewska, Victoria Bosio, Jil Teichmann and Rebecca Šramková before beating Catalina Pella in the final. It was the first tournament win after a period of almost four years. In February, Cîrstea returned to the WTA Tour by playing at the 2016 Rio Open – Women's singles, Rio Open. As a wildcard, she reached the semifinals with straight victories against Brazilian wildcard Beatriz Haddad Maia, fifth seed Polona Hercog, and third seed
Danka Kovinić Danka Kovinić ( sr-cyrl, Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player. On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 i ...
. Cîrstea lost in the semifinals to Shelby Rogers. Her performance moved her ranking from 199 to 153. Also in February, she played at a $25k tournament in São Paulo. She defeated Yvonne Cavallé Reimers, Martina Caregaro, and Jil Teichmann en route to the semifinals where she lost to Sara Sorribes Tormo. In March, Cîrstea traveled to Miami to compete at the 2016 Miami Open – Women's singles, Miami Open. Receiving a wildcard for qualifying, she lost in the final round to 17th seed Francesca Schiavone. Also in March, Sorana played at the 2016 Engie Open de Seine-et-Marne – Singles, Engie Open, a $50k event in Croissy-Beaubourg, France. She defeated Elitsa Kostova, Josephine Boualem, and Andreea Mitu en route to the semifinals, where she lost to second seed
Pauline Parmentier Pauline Parmentier (; born 31 January 1986) is a French former tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is 40, which she attained on 21 July 2008. On 30 April 2012, she peaked at No. 89 on the WTA doubles rankings. She won four singl ...
. Cîrstea kicked off her clay-court season at the 2016 İstanbul Cup – Singles, İstanbul Cup. Seeded fifth for qualifying, she made it to the main draw beating Turkish wildcards Pemra Özgen and Başak Eraydın. In the main draw, she upset third seed and defending champion Lesia Tsurenko in the first round. In the second round, she lost to eventual champion Çağla Büyükakçay. Cîrstea successfully qualified for the 2016 J&T Banka Prague Open – Singles, Prague Open defeating Karolína Beránková, Anastasiya Komardina, and Amandine Hesse. She lost in the first round in three sets to the fourth seed and eventual finalist Sam Stosur. Receiving a wildcard for the 2016 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's singles, Madrid Open, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinals beating Jelena Jankovic, Danka Kovinić and Laura Siegemund en route. In the quarterfinals, she faced Dominika Cibulková and lost in three sets. Cîrstea qualified for the 2016 French Open – Women's singles, French Open defeating Zhang Yuxuan, Jana Čepelová, and Elise Mertens. She lost in the first round to 18th seed Elina Svitolina. Cîrstea started her grass-court season at the first edition of the 2016 Mallorca Open – Singles, Mallorca Open. Seeded second for qualifying, she won all of her matches to advance to the main draw beating Valentyna Ivakhnenko, Sesil Karatantcheva, and
Mandy Minella Mandy Minella (born 22 November 1985) is a Luxembourgish politician and former professional tennis player. Having made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001, she peaked at No. 66 in the WTA singles rankings in September 2012, and No. 47 in doubles ...
. She advanced to the quarterfinals defeating fifth seed Yulia Putintseva and wild card Daniela Hantuchová. She lost in the quarterfinals to second seed Jelena Janković. Cîrstea played in her final tournament before Wimbledon at the 2016 Aegon International Eastbourne – Singles, Eastbourne International. She retired during her first round of qualifying match over seventh seed Varvara Lepchenko. At the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon Championships, Cîrstea was defeated in the first round by tenth seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová. After Wimbledon, Cîrstea played at the 2016 Reinert Open – Singles, Reinert Open, a $50k event in Versmold, Germany. As the second seed, she made it to the semifinals beating qualifier Andrea Gámiz, Nadia Podoroska, and eighth seed Lesley Kerkhove. She lost her semifinal match to Antonia Lottner. Competing at the 2016 Swedish Open – Women's singles, Swedish Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round to fourth seed Annika Beck. Cîrstea played only two tournaments during the US Open Series. At the 2016 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Western & Southern Open, she lost in the final round of qualifying to seventh seed Alizé Cornet. At the 2016 Connecticut Open – Singles, Connecticut Open, she lost in the second round of qualifying to Louisa Chirico. Playing at the 2016 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, she lost in the first round to compatriot Ana Bogdan in three sets. After the US Open, Cîrstea competed at the 2016 Engie Open de Biarritz – Singles, Open de Biarritz, a $100k event in France. As the second seed, she advanced to the semifinals where she lost to eighth seed Rebecca Šramková. During the last week of September, Cîrstea played at the 2016 Tashkent Open – Singles, Tashkent Open. As the seventh seed, she was defeated in the first round by Francesca Schiavone. Playing at the 2016 Generali Ladies Linz – Singles, Generali Ladies Linz in Austria, Cîrstea upset sixth seed Kiki Bertens in the first round. She lost in the second round to French qualifier Océane Dodin. Her last WTA event of the year was at the 2016 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles, BGL Luxembourg Open where she lost in the first round to qualifier Tereza Smitková. Cîrstea's final two tournaments of the season were on the ITF Circuit. At the 2016 Internationaux Féminins de la Vienne – Singles, Internationaux de la Vienne in Poitiers, France, she lost in the first round to Anett Kontaveit. Playing her last tournament of 2016 at the 2016 Open de Limoges – Singles, Open de Limoges, she was defeated in the second round by Tamara Korpatsch. Cîrstea ended the year ranked 81.


2017: Australian Open round of 16, rankings rise

Cîrstea started her 2017 season at the 2017 WTA Shenzhen Open – Singles, Shenzhen Open. She defeated Kristína Kučová in the first round before losing to top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round. Cîrstea made it to the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open for the first time in her career defeating Irina Khromacheva, tenth seed Carla Suárez Navarro, and Alison Riske in the first three rounds before losing to seventh seed Garbiñe Muguruza. Her next tournament was the 2017 Taiwan Open – Singles, Taiwan Open. Cirstea retired midway through her first-round match against Risa Ozaki due to a left wrist injury. She returned from injury to be a part of the Romanian team at the 2017 Fed Cup World Group II, Fed Cup World Group II against Belgium. She lost the second rubber against Yanina Wickmayer in a close three-setter which went on for 3 hours & 22 minutes. Even though Romania lost the tie against Belgium, she won her doubles match teaming up with Monica Niculescu. After making first-round exits at the 2017 Hungarian Ladies Open – Singles, Hungarian Ladies Open and at 2017 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles, Indian Wells, she won her first singles match in nearly two months against Monica Puig in the first round of the 2017 Miami Open – Women's singles, Miami Open. Cîrstea fell to Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. She made the quarterfinals of the 2017 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's singles, Madrid Open where she lost to Kristina Mladenovic, and the semifinals of the 2017 Nürnberger Versicherungscup – Singles, Nuremberg Cup. At the 2017 French Open – Women's singles, French Open she lost to 21st seed Carla Suárez Navarro in the second round. Her first tournament of the grass court season was at 2017 Aegon International Eastbourne – Women's singles, Eastbourne, where she entered the main draw as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of CoCo Vandeweghe; she lost to
Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei (; ; born 4 January 1986) is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in Doubles tennis, doubles with nine Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles, she is rega ...
in the final qualifying round. In the main draw, she defeated Kateřina Siniaková, before falling to the fifth seed Johanna Konta. Cîrstea reached the third round of 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon, defeating 23rd seed
Kiki Bertens Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings#Current rankings, singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest-ranked Dutch female playe ...
in the first round, before bowing out to the eventual champion, Garbiñe Muguruza. At 2017 BRD Bucharest Open – Singles, Bucharest, she lost in the first round to compatriot Ana Bogdan, before entering the 2017 Rogers Cup – Women's singles, Rogers Cup in Toronto. Qualifying for the main draw, defeating
Aleksandra Wozniak Aleksandra Wozniak (; born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian former tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005, and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 21 in June 2009, making her the fifth highest-ranked Canadian singles player of ...
and
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 26, which was achieved on 22 October 2018. Giorgi was known for her aggressive style of pla ...
, she was defeated in the first round by Caroline Garcia. She next lost in the first qualifying round of 2017 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Cincinnati to
Aleksandra Krunić Aleksandra Krunić ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Крунић; born 15 March 1993) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She is a Grand Slam doubles finalist at the 2025 French Open, partnering Anna Danilina. In June 2018, she reached her b ...
, before entering the 2017 US Open – Women's singles, US Open. Defeating Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in the first round, she fell to Jeļena Ostapenko in the second round. At 2017 Korea Open – Singles, Seoul, Cîrstea defeated Misa Eguchi and Nicole Gibbs, before falling to Luksika Kumkhum. At 2017 Wuhan Open – Singles, Wuhan, she defeated
Wang Yafan Wang Yafan (; ; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016. In her career, she has won ...
in the first round, before being defeated by Wang Qiang (tennis), Wang Qiang. At 2017 China Open – Women's singles, Beijing, she reached the quarterfinals, defeating Mona Barthel, Christina McHale, and
Karolína Plíšková Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...
; the latter win was her first against a top ten opponent since 2014. She lost in the quarterfinal match against Ostapenko. At 2017 Upper Austria Ladies Linz – Singles, Linz, she defeated Alison Van Uytvanck and Natalia Vikhlyantseva, before being defeated by Magdaléna Rybáriková. Her final tournament of the year was at 2017 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles, Luxembourg, where she was defeated in the first round by
Verónica Cepede Royg Verónica Cepede Royg (; born 21 January 1992) is a Paraguayan former tennis player. On 7 August 2017, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of No. 73. Her best doubles ranking is No. 85, achieved on 19 September 2016. Cepede Royg has wo ...
. She ended the year ranked No. 37.


2018: Mixed results, rankings drop

Cîrstea's first tournament of the year was at 2018 Brisbane International – Women's singles, Brisbane, where she defeated Jennifer Brady in the first round before losing to Anastasija Sevastova. At 2018 Hobart International – Singles, Hobart, she lost in the first round to
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles, 2016 ...
, whilst at the 2018 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open, she defeated
Zarina Diyas Zarina Diyas (; ; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as No. 31 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Diyas has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2017 Japan Women' ...
in the first round, before falling to
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles ...
. She next entered 2018 St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy – Singles, St. Petersburg, where she lost in the first round to
Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
; she next won her 2018 Fed Cup World Group II#Romania vs. Canada, Fed Cup tie against Carol Zhao. She next competed in 2018 Qatar Total Open – Singles, Doha, where she defeated Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens, before falling to Garbiñe Muguruza. At 2018 Hungarian Ladies Open – Singles, Budapest, she lost in the first round to lucky loser Viktória Kužmová. At 2018 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles, Indian Wells, she defeated compatriot Monica Niculescu in the first round, before falling to
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...
. In receipt of a first-round bye at 2018 Miami Open – Women's singles, Miami, she was defeated in the second round by Hsieh Su-wei. At 2018 İstanbul Cup – Singles, İstanbul, she lost in the first round to Yulia Putintseva, whilst at 2018 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's singles, Madrid, she defeated Kateřina Siniaková, before losing to Daria Kasatkina. At 2018 Italian Open – Women's singles, Rome, she lost in the first round to qualifier Danielle Collins. At 2018 Nürnberger Versicherungscup – Singles, Nuremberg, she defeated Andrea Petkovic and Madison Brengle, before retiring from her quarterfinal match against Alison Riske. At the 2018 French Open – Women's singles, French Open, she lost in the first round to Daria Gavrilova. Cîrstea's first grass-court tournament of the year was at 2018 Mallorca Open – Singles, Mallorca, where she lost in the first round to Johanna Larsson. Entering 2018 Eastbourne International – Women's singles, Eastbourne, she lost in the first round to
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...
, whilst, at 2018 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon, she defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková, before losing to
Evgeniya Rodina Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina (, born 4 February 1989) is an inactive Russian tennis player. On 6 May 2019, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 67. Rodina has won 13 singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit alo ...
. At her home tournament in 2018 Bucharest Open – Singles, Bucharest, she reached the quarterfinals by defeating Çağla Büyükakçay and Maryna Zanevska, before falling to first seed and eventual champion Anastasija Sevastova. At the 2018 Rogers Cup – Women's singles, Rogers Cup in Montreal, in a mirror of her results in Indian Wells, she defeated Monica Niculescu in the first round, before losing to Venus Williams. At 2018 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Cincinnati, she defeated Vania King, before falling to
Ajla Tomljanović Ajla Tomljanović ( ; ; born 7 May 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. On 3 April 2023, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32. On 5 January 2015, she peaked at No. 47 in the doubles rankings. She has won four s ...
. At the 2018 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, she defeated Alison Riske, before falling to Maria Sharapova. Cîrstea failed to qualify for 2018 Wuhan Open – Singles, Wuhan, losing to Nicole Gibbs in the first qualifying round, and also failed to qualify for 2018 China Open – Women's singles, Beijing, losing in the final qualifying round to
Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also has had ...
. Gaining entry as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of Ashleigh Barty, she lost in the first round to
Kiki Bertens Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings#Current rankings, singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest-ranked Dutch female playe ...
. At 2018 Upper Austria Ladies Linz – Singles, Linz, she was defeated in the first round by Jil Teichmann. Her final event of the year was at the 2018 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge – Singles, ITF tournament in Dubai, where she defeated Yuliya Hatouka, before falling to the eventual champion
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; ; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 doubles player by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA ...
. Cîrstea ended the year ranked No. 86.


2019: Continued struggles, first US Open third round in 10 years

Cîrstea's first tournament of the year was at the 2019 WTA Shenzhen Open – Singles, Shenzhen Open. She reached the quarterfinals where she lost to two-time finalist and eventual finalist, Alison Riske. Ranked 84 at the 2019 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open, she was defeated in the first round by Rebecca Peterson. At 2019 Qatar Total Open – Singles, Doha, she was defeated in the first qualifying round by doubles specialist Shuko Aoyama. At 2019 Hungarian Ladies Open – Singles, Budapest, she defeated Anna Bondár and Aleksandra Krunić, before falling to Anastasia Potapova. At the 2019 Oracle Challenger Series – Indian Wells – Women's singles, Indian Wells Challenger, she received a first-round bye, before falling to Kristie Ahn in the second round. At the 2019 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles, Indian Wells Open itself, she defeated Danielle Lao in the first round, before falling to Nao Hibino. She lost in the first round of the 2019 Miami Open – Women's singles, Miami Open to Laura Siegemund. At 2019 Ladies Open Lugano – Singles, Lugano, Cîrstea defeated Mona Barthel in the first round, before losing to the eventual champion Polona Hercog. At 2019 İstanbul Cup – Singles, İstanbul, she defeated compatriot Irina Bara, before losing to Barbora Strýcová. At 2019 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's singles, Madrid, she defeated Madison Keys in the first round, before falling to Caroline Garcia. She had a strong run to the semifinals of 2019 Nürnberger Versicherungscup – Singles, Nuremberg, defeating Kirsten Flipkens, Laura Ioana Paar, and Nina Stojanović, before falling to the eventual champion Yulia Putintseva. At the 2019 French Open – Women's singles, French Open, she defeated Kaja Juvan, before losing to Aliona Bolsova. Cîrstea's next match was at 2019 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to Amanda Anisimova. At 2019 Swedish Open – Women's singles, Båstad, where she was the top seed, she lost in the first round to Johanna Larsson. At 2019 Bucharest Open – Singles, Bucharest, she lost in the first round to compatriot Jaqueline Cristian. In 2019 Baltic Open – Singles, Jūrmala, she was defeated in the first round by Valentina Ivakhnenko. She did not play another match until the 2019 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, where she defeated Kateřina Siniaková and Aliona Bolsova, before falling to Taylor Townsend. At 2019 Japan Women's Open – Singles, Hiroshima, she lost in the first round to Sara Sorribes Tormo. This was followed by a run to the final at 2019 Tashkent Open – Singles, Tashkent, the tournament she had won 11 years prior. She defeated Denisa Šátralová, Denisa Allertová, Ysaline Bonaventure,
Danka Kovinić Danka Kovinić ( sr-cyrl, Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player. On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 i ...
, and Katarina Zavatska, before losing in the final to Alison Van Uytvanck in three sets. At 2019 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles, Luxembourg, she defeated
Pauline Parmentier Pauline Parmentier (; born 31 January 1986) is a French former tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is 40, which she attained on 21 July 2008. On 30 April 2012, she peaked at No. 89 on the WTA doubles rankings. She won four singl ...
in the first round, before losing to the defending champion,
Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
. Her final tournament of the year was the 125k at 2019 Open de Limoges – Singles, Limoges, defeating Tatjana Maria and Sara Sorribes Tormo to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to Nicole Gibbs. Cîrstea ended the year ranked No. 72.


2020: Second consecutive US Open third round

Cîrstea started her 2020 season at the 2020 WTA Shenzhen Open – Singles, Shenzhen Open. She lost in the first round to Chinese wildcard Wang Xiyu. Despite qualifying for the 2020 Hobart International – Singles, Hobart International, she withdrew from the tournament due to a left leg injury. Ranked 74 at the 2020 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open, she beat 32nd seed, Barbora Strýcová, in the first round. She lost in the second round to Coco Gauff. Getting past qualifying at the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's singles, Dubai Championships, Cîrstea fell in the first round to Anett Kontaveit. In 2020 Qatar Total Open – Singles, Doha, she was beaten in the first round by Elena Rybakina. The WTA tour was suspended from March through July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the WTA resumed tournament play in August, Cîrstea played at the 2020 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo – Singles, Palermo Open. She lost in the first round to
Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...
in three sets. At the 2020 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Western & Southern Open in New York rather than Cincinnati, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying by
Anna Kalinskaya Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya ( rus, Анна Николаевна Калинская, , ˈanːə kɐˈlʲinskəjə, Ru-Anna_Kalinskaya.ogg; born 2 December 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world ...
. Ranked 77 at the 2020 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, Cîrstea upset ninth seed, Johanna Konta, in the second round. She was eliminated from the tournament in the third round by 20th seed Karolína Muchová. Cîrstea suffered a first-round loss at the 2020 French Open – Women's singles, French Open to 14th seed Rybakina. In October, Cîrstea competed at the first edition of the 2020 J&T Banka Ostrava Open – Singles, J&T Banka Ostrava Open. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Paula Badosa. At the 2020 Upper Austria Ladies Linz – Singles, 2020 Upper Austria Linz, she was defeated in the second round by qualifier Océane Dodin. Cîrstea's final tournament of the year was at the 2020 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge – Singles, Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, an ITF tournament in Dubai. She won her first singles title since January 2016 by beating fifth seed, Kateřina Siniaková, in the final. Cîrstea ended the year ranked 86.


2021: French Open fourth round, top 10 victory, second singles title

When Cîrstea entered Australia for the 2021 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open, she had to enter a hard quarantine as she travelled on a flight on which a fellow passenger tested positive for Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, COVID-19. After this, she entered the warm-up tournament designed for those players affected by this hard quarantine, the 2021 Grampians Trophy – Singles, Grampians Trophy. There, she beat second seed, Belinda Bencic, in the second round. She fell in the quarterfinals to Ann Li (tennis), Ann Li. In this match against Li, Cîrstea was involved in an unusual incident where she requested a code violation from the umpire for coaching, as she was irritated by her coaches' repeated comments towards her. At the 2021 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open, she scored her first top 10 victory since 2017 by defeating ninth seed, three-time Grand slam winner, and 2019 finalist,
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
, in the second round. She lost in the third round to 19th seed Markéta Vondroušová. Seeded sixth at the 2021 WTA Lyon Open – Singles, Lyon Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round to Nina Stojanović. In 2021 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's singles, Dubai, she was defeated in the second round by 15th seed Anett Kontaveit. At the 2021 Miami Open – Women's singles, Miami Open, she fell in the second round to 22nd seed Kontaveit. Cîrstea's first clay-court tournament of the year was at the 2021 İstanbul Cup – Singles, İstanbul Cup. She reached her first final since Tashkent in 2019, and her first on clay since Budapest in 2007. She defeated top seed, Elise Mertens, in straight sets to claim her first title since 2008; she did so without dropping a set throughout the entire tournament. Following this victory, her ranking rose to No. 58, her highest ranking since October 2018. Playing in 2021 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's singles, Madrid as a wildcard, she was beaten in the first round by
Jessica Pegula Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings in singles of world No. 3, achieved October 2022, and in doubles of world No. 1, set on 11 September 2023. Pegula reached the single ...
. At the 2021 Internationaux de Strasbourg – Singles, Internationaux de Strasbourg, she reached her second final of the season; she lost to fifth seed Barbora Krejčíková. Ranked 54 at the 2021 French Open – Women's singles, French Open, she made it to the fourth round where she was ousted from the tournament by eventual semifinalist Tamara Zidanšek. Cîrstea began her grass-court season at the 2021 WTA German Open – Singles, German Open in Berlin. She lost in the first round to sixth seed Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded sixth at the first edition of the 2021 Bad Homburg Open – Singles, Bad Homburg Open, she was defeated in the first round by Andrea Petkovic. Ranked 45 at 2021 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon, she stunned 12th seed, two-time Grand Slam winner, and former world No. 1,
Victoria Azarenka Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka (born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), having held the position for a total of 51 weeks ...
, in the second round in three sets. She was eliminated in the third round by British wildcard Emma Raducanu. In August, Cîrstea competed at the 2021 National Bank Open – Women's singles, Canadian Open in Montreal. She lost in the second round to eighth seed Azarenka. At the 2021 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, she was defeated in the first round by eventual finalist Jil Teichmann. Seeded third at the first edition of the 2021 Chicago Women's Open – Singles, Chicago Women's Open, she was eliminated in the first round by Tereza Martincová. Ranked 39 at the 2021 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, she beat 29th seed, Veronika Kudermetova, in the first round. She then lost in the second round to Shelby Rogers. Seeded fourth at the 2021 Zavarovalnica Sava Portorož – Singles, Slovenia Open, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinals where she lost to eventual champion Jasmine Paolini. At the 2021 J&T Banka Ostrava Open – Singles, Ostrava Open, she was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Kontaveit. Seeded 32nd at 2021 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles, Indian Wells, she lost in the third round to fourth seed Elina Svitolina. Cîrstea ended the year ranked 38.


2022: Australian Open and Indian Wells fourth rounds

Cîrstea started her 2022 season at the first edition of the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 2 – Singles, Melbourne Summer Set 2. Seeded fifth, she lost in the second round to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova. Seeded ninth at the 2022 Adelaide International 2 – Women's singles, Adelaide International 2, she was defeated in the first round by Anhelina Kalinina. Ranked No. 38 at the 2022 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open, she beat 20th seed, Petra Kvitová, for the second straight year in the first round. She then beat 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in the third round to reach the fourth round for the second time in her career. She ended up losing to seventh seed Iga Świątek, in three sets. Cîrstea lost in the second round of the 2022 St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy – Singles, St. Petersburg Trophy to second seed and eventual champion, Anett Kontaveit. In 2022 Qatar Total Open – Singles, Doha, she was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by fifth seed and two-time finalist, Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded second at the 2022 WTA Lyon Open – Singles, Lyon Open, she was ousted in the semifinals by Dayana Yastremska. Seeded 26th at the 2022 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles, Indian Wells Open, she reached the fourth round where she lost to 24th seed and 2015 champion,
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 64 w ...
. Seeded 24th at the 2022 Miami Open – Women's singles, Miami Open, she was defeated in the second round by Zhang Shuai. Cîrstea began her clay-court season at the 2022 İstanbul Cup – Singles, İstanbul Cup. Seeded second and the defending champion, she made it to the semifinals where she fell to third seed Veronika Kudermetova. In 2022 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's singles, Madrid, she was beaten in the first round by Spaniard Nuria Párrizas Díaz. At the 2022 Italian Open – Women's singles, Italian Open, she lost in the first round to ninth seed and eventual finalist,
Ons Jabeur Ons Jabeur (born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP ranking ...
. Seeded third and last year finalist at the 2022 Internationaux de Strasbourg – Singles, Internationaux de Strasbourg, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier, Ekaterina Makarova (tennis player, born 1996), Ekaterina Makarova, in three sets. Seeded 26th at the 2022 French Open – Women's singles, French Open, she lost in the second round to 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens. Cîrstea started her grass-court season at the 2022 Birmingham Classic – Singles, Birmingham Classic. Seeded sixth, she reached the semifinals where she fell to eighth seed Zhang Shuai. In 2022 Eastbourne International – Women's singles, Eastbourne, she retired during her first-round match against Anhelina Kalinina due to illness. Seeded 26th at 2022 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, Wimbledon, she lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist Tatjana Maria. Seeded fourth at the 2022 Prague Open – Singles, Prague Open, Cîrstea fell in her first-round match to qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva. Cîrstea began her US Open preparation at the 2022 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. She beat 12th seed, Belinda Bencic, in the first round. She lost in the second round to eventual finalist Petra Kvitová. After the US Open, she hired former player Thomas Johansson to be her coach.


2023: First WTA 1000 semifinal since 2013, major quarterfinal, return to top 25

At the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai Championships she defeated 11th seed Haddad Maia in the longest match of the season thus far lasting 3 hours and 29 minutes. Ranked No. 83 at the next WTA 1000 at Indian Wells, for a second consecutive year she reached the fourth round defeating Kimberly Birrell, 19th seed Madison Keys by walkover, and Bernarda Pera. Next she defeated fifth seed Caroline Garcia to reach her first quarterfinal at this level since 2017 and at this tournament and only her fifth overall. In the next WTA 1000 in 2023 Miami Open, Miami she defeated again fourth seed Caroline Garcia, her second top-5 win in two weeks, and Karolína Muchová to reach the fourth round and the first in Miami since 2013. Next she defeated Markéta Vondroušová to reach back-to-back quarterfinals on a WTA 1000 level. She reached the semifinals without dropping a set, only for a second time at the WTA 1000 level in a decade (after the 2013 Canadian Open final), defeating world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka, for her biggest win of her career. She was the first player ranked outside the top-50 to win 9+ main draw matches at the Sunshine Double in a single year: four in Indian Wells and five in Miami. As a result she entered back into the top 50 a spot shy of the top 40. In May, Cîrstea defeated Elizabeth Mandlik in the final of the Catalonia Open (tennis), Catalonia Open to become the first ever champion in the inaugural edition of that 2023 WTA 125 tournaments, WTA 125 tournament. Seeded 30th at the 2023 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinal of a major for the second time, and fourteen years after her initial quarterfinal appearance at the 2009 French Open - Women's Singles, 2009 French Open. Her run to the quarterfinals included wins over Kayla Day and
Anna Kalinskaya Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya ( rus, Анна Николаевна Калинская, , ˈanːə kɐˈlʲinskəjə, Ru-Anna_Kalinskaya.ogg; born 2 December 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world ...
before upsets over former Grand Slam champion and No. 4 seed, Elena Rybakina, in the third round and No. 15 seed Belinda Bencic in the round of 16. In her quarterfinal match, she fell to tenth seed and former 2023 French Open – Women's singles, French Open finalist Karolína Muchová in straight sets.


2024: Third WTA 1000 semifinal

At 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai, she reached the semifinals defeating 13th seed Veronika Kudermetova,
Donna Vekić Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 17 on 27 January 2025. Her best performance at a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major is reachin ...
, and seventh seed Markéta Vondroušová saving six match points.


2025: First WTA 1000 doubles title

Partnering
Anna Kalinskaya Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya ( rus, Анна Николаевна Калинская, , ˈanːə kɐˈlʲinskəjə, Ru-Anna_Kalinskaya.ogg; born 2 December 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world ...
, Cîrstea won her first WTA 1000 doubles title at the 2025 Mutua Madrid Open – Women's doubles, Madrid Open, defeating Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens in the final.


Playing style

Cîrstea is an aggressive baseliner, whose game centers around her quick, flat, and powerful groundstrokes. As a result of her high-risk game style, she typically accumulates high numbers of both winners and unforced errors.''Tennis Spy''
Sorana Cîrstea
(8 June 2009)
Her backhand is her most reliable groundstroke, and she consistently hits winners with this shot, and, even when she does not aim specifically for the lines, her backhand penetrates deep into the court, allowing her to dictate play. Her forehand is hit very flat, allowing her to hit deep into the court with regularity, generate consistent power, and hit a large numbers of winners; her forehand is somewhat erratic, however, meaning that unforced errors do accumulate from this wing. Cîrstea is capable of generating sharp angles off both sides, producing winners. According to the ''Tennis Spy'', her long stride means she covers ground while not appearing to move particularly quickly, allowing her to execute her game style excellently. As a doubles player, she is also a very solid volley (tennis), volleyer, and likes to attack short balls with powerful swinging volleys. Her first serve is powerful, peaking at 109 mph (175 km/h), allowing her to serve aces and dictate play from the first stroke, however a tendency to take risks on her second serve does lead to an accumulation of double faults when nervous.


Sponsorships

Between 2006 and 2016, Cîrstea was sponsored for clothing, apparel, and footwear by Adidas; since 2016, she has been sponsored by New Balance. Cîrstea has used numerous racquets throughout her professional career – until 2014, Cîrstea used Wilson Sporting Goods, Wilson racquets, specifically endorsing the Wilson Blade range of racquets. In 2015, Cîrstea used the Babolat Pure Strike racquet, before switching to the Pure Aero model between 2016 and 2019. Cîrstea later switched to the Yonex EZONE 100 racquet in 2019, and is still using this racquet currently.


Career statistics


Grand Slam performance timelines


Singles


Doubles


WTA 1000 tournaments


Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)


Doubles: 1 (1 title)


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cirstea, Sorana 1990 births Living people Olympic tennis players for Romania Tennis players from Bucharest Sportspeople from Târgoviște Romanian female tennis players Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Hopman Cup competitors Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics 21st-century Romanian sportswomen