Unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday earned the biggest win of her career with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Australian Open champion and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Miami Open semi-finals, while Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching were eliminated.
Cirstea, who has yet to drop a set in Miami and is the last unseeded player in the draw, delivered a stunning performance while taking advantage of some untimely double faults to become only the third person to beat Sabalenka this year.
With the win, the 32-year-old Cirstea reached her second WTA 1000 semi-final nearly 10 years after reaching her first.
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
“I am a bit speechless,” the world No. 74 said. “I came out knowing that it was going to be a really tough match. Aryna hits so hard, so I knew I had to hold my ground and I am very, very happy with my performance today, and it’s a bit unexpected to be honest.”
When serving for the match, Cirstea fell behind 0-30 and then held steady while saving two break points before finally sealing the win when Sabalenka sent a forehand return long.
Cirstea broke to open the match, but Sabalenka dropped just three points across her next three service games before breaking the Romanian to draw level at 4-4.
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
Cirstea, who arrived in Miami fresh off a run to the Indian Wells quarter-finals, held firm against Sabalenka’s power and broke right back before sealing the first set in emphatic fashion with an ace.
The Romanian broke to start the second set when Sabalenka double-faulted at 30-40 and then held to love for a 2-0 lead, but the Belarusian briefly turned up the heat and looked to have found her way before letting it slip.
Sabalenka squandered a break-point chance while leading 3-2 and then double-faulted while facing a break point in the next game as Cirstea went ahead 4-3 and never looked back.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the semis, Cirstea faces face either Czech 15th seed Petra Kvitova or 18th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who were to play after press time last night.
On the men’s side, a two-hour mid-match rain delay could not cool off sizzling Jannik Sinner, who crushed unseeded Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-1 in their one-sided quarter-final.
The 10th-seeded Italian ripped a backhand-return winner to capture the first set and rolled from there to improve to a career 5-0 against Ruusuvuori.
“We both played well today, but I won the important points,” Sinner said. “It’s never easy when you are up and you get interrupted, but I came back and played well.”
Rain washed out Wednesday’s remaining matches, including a first meeting between world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and American Taylor Fritz.
That match was to be played early this morning Taiwan time, weather permitting.
In the women’s doubles, Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australian Ellen Perez defeated the Chan sisters 3-6, 7-5, 10-2 in their quarter-final.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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