Sorana Cirstea, an unseeded Romanian, defeated No. 2 seed and defending Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open quarterfinals to go to the semifinals for the first time in ten years.
Cirstea defeated Sabalenka in their first encounter 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday night in the last eight to go into the last round of a tournament of this magnitude for the first time since falling short to Serena Williams in Toronto in 2013.
The 32-year-old Cirstea has had a resurgent campaign in more ways than one, winning five matches without dropping a set. She has also defeated former Top 20 players Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova, as well as No. 5 seed Caroline Garcia (whom she previously defeated at Indian Wells).
She advanced in this Sunshine Double by defeating Sabalenka in an 85-minute match in the second quarterfinal. It was her first win against a woman in the Top 2 of the WTA rankings. (Earlier this month, she lost to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals.)
“I believe I’m rather speechless. I went into the contest aware that it would be quite challenging. I knew I had to stand my ground because Aryna smashes so hard, and I’m quite pleased with how I performed today,” Cirstea was quoted as saying by WTA.
“I suppose that keeping track of one’s age, years, and accomplishments is a common practice, but I never do it. I simply go about my business, work hard, do what I do, have faith in my abilities, and work with my coach Thomas Johansson. We just began working together in December, but I think things are going well so far. Numbers don’t define me. I’m just trying to focus on my job and keep my head down,” she said.
Cirstea will compete against the victor of the evening quarterfinal between No. 15 seed Petra Kvitova and unseeded Ekaterina Alexandrova for a spot in the championship match.
