Cirstea beats Sabalenka at Miami, night matches rained out

Sorana Cirstea superior to her first semifinal of a WTA 1000 occasion in a decade, beating Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-4 on the Miami Open on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Cirstea beat the highest-ranked opponent of her profession by knocking off the second-ranked Sabalenka. Cirstea beforehand defeated No. 4 Caroline Garcia this month at Indian Wells and topped Garcia once more within the second spherical at Miami.

“I think I’m a bit speechless,” Cirstea mentioned. “I came out knowing that it’s going to be a really tough match. Aryna hits so hard, so I knew I had to hold my ground, and I’m very, very happy with my performance today.”

The 74th-ranked Romanian, who has two profession singles titles, will face both Petra Kvitova and Ekaterina Alexandrova within the semifinals. The Kvitova-Alexandrova match had been scheduled for Wednesday evening however was postponed to Thursday due to rain; additionally postponed was the lads’s match between top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and No. 10 Taylor Fritz.

Alexandrova superior on Tuesday when Bianca Andreescu suffered a left ankle damage and left the courtroom in a wheelchair. On Wednesday, the 22-year-old Andreescu tweeted that she tore two ligaments in her ankle and can be out indefinitely.

“It’s tough to say exactly how long it will take, but let’s just say it could’ve been much worse!! I’m going to take it day by day, and I am optimistic that with the right work, rehab, and preparation, I’ll be back on court soon,” the 2019 U.S. Open champion mentioned in her social media submit.

Sabalenka had six double faults, three of them on break factors, and made 21 unforced errors to simply 9 for Cirstea.

“I guess people like to keep count of the age, the years, the results, but I never do that. I just mind my own business, work hard, do my thing, believe in my game, work with my coach Thomas Johansson — we just started in December and so far, I think it’s going great,” Cirstea mentioned.

In the lads’s draw, Eleventh-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-1.