Tag Archives: Sorana Cirstea

Beatriz Haddad Maia Advances to Fourth Round at Wimbledon for First Time

Posted on by
Reply

Beatriz Haddad Maia has advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time at Wimbledon.

The 27-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player moved into the fourth round at the All England Club by besting Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-2 on No. 3 Court on Saturday.

Beatriz Haddad MaiaHaddad Maia came into the match behind in the head-to-head, with Cirstea having won four of their five prior meetings.

But this time, Haddad Maia perfectly mixed powerful hitting with outrageous defense to earn the victory in exactly 90 minutes — mere seconds before a two-hour rain delay hit the grounds.

Haddad Maia, who cracked the Top 10 for two weeks last month, won 80 percent of her first-serve points on the day. She also dominated when returning the Cirstea second serve, winning 15 of those 21 points, and turning that into five service breaks.

After not passing the second round in her first 11 Grand Slam main draws, Haddad Maia has now reached the second week at two consecutive majors. She broke her second-round barrier with a historic semifinal appearance at Roland Garros last month, only falling to eventual French Open champion Iga Swiatek.

She’ll face defending champion Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16.

Beatriz Haddad Maia Wins Birmingham Classic Title

Posted on by
Reply

Beatriz Haddad Maia now has back-to-back WTA titles…

The 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player secured back-to-back WTA titles on Sunday after Chinese opponent Shuai Zhang retired with an injury trailing 5-4 in the first set of the Birmingham Classic final.

Beatriz Haddad Maia Haddad Maia hadn’t won a senior title before arriving in England to play the Nottingham Open last week. Now she has two in her collection, both coming on grass courts.

The unseeded Haddad Maia and the eighth-seeded Zhang went into the final having won semifinal matches on Sunday morning — against second-seeded Simona Halep and Sorana Cirstea, respectively — after rain washed out the whole of Saturday.

Haddad Maia, who lost the first two games of the final, was preparing to serve for the first set when Zhang — who had consulted with medical staff during the changeover — walked slowly to the net and hugged her opponent. It was not immediately apparent what the injury was.

The two players teamed up to win the doubles title in Nottingham last week.

Muguruza Advances to Her First Australian Open Quarterfinal

Posted on by
Reply

Garbiñe Muguruza is one step closer to another Grand Slam title.

The 23-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player has booked a maiden Australian Open quarterfinals berth, cruising to a straight-sets win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Garbiñe Muguruza

Muguruza, who defeated Serena Williams in the final of last year’s French Open, rarely looked troubled on her way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in just more than an hour on Sunday night.

She’ll next face American Coco Vandeweghe, who beat world No. 1 Angelique Kerber.

“It was a very important match for me because this is the third time that I’m in the round of 16 and I never go through,” Muguruza said.

“It means a lot. I always come here very motivated. To be in the quarterfinals is such a great achievement and I’m so looking forward to keep winning.”

Muguruza was able to capitalize on 26 unforced errors from world No. 78 Cirstea, who sought a medical timeout during the second set for treatment of a wrist injury.

Muguruza said she had grown in confidence since claiming her first grand slam title at Roland Garros last year.

“I know grand slams are very important,” Muguruza said.

“When you win one, you have that self-confidence and that belief in yourself that you can do it again.”