2005–2006: Junior and turning pro 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 after having defeated the top-ranked world junior player
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 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, top 40 In April 2007, she reached the final of the
Budapest Grand Prix, 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 in the quarterfinals and
Karin Knapp in the semifinals before losing to
Gisela Dulko in the final. She was the first Romanian to reach a WTA Tour final since
Ruxandra Dragomir 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 where she reached the doubles final with
Alexa Glatch, losing to the third seeds
Ksenia Milevskaya and
Urszula Radwańska. She competed for Romania in the women's singles at the
2008 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to
Shahar Pe'er. In October 2008, Cîrstea won her first WTA title in
Tashkent by defeating fourth seed and world No. 64,
Sabine Lisicki, 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: French Open quarterfinals Cîrstea began new season by losing to
Dinara Safina at the
Sydney International, in straight sets. In the doubles tournament, she partnered
Vera Dushevina and reached the second round, defeating Kuznetsova/Petrova before losing to Black/Huber. At the
Australian Open, she lost in the first singles round to
Melinda Czink, but reached the second round of the doubles with
Monica Niculescu, 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 and
Dominika Cibulková 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 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. In the doubles tournament, she partnered
Galina Voskoboeva 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. Her doubles effort in Miami with
Caroline Wozniacki also ended in the first round, with a loss to Kuznetsova/Mauresmo. Her clay-court season began at the inaugural
Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella. She reached the semifinals, defeating
Ioana Olaru, Andreja Klepač and
Kaia Kanepi before losing to
Carla Suárez Navarro. 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, but reached the finals of the doubles tournament with
Andreja Klepač. 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, and again reached the finals of the doubles tournament, with
Maria Kirilenko. 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 and
Maret Ani, before falling to the eventual champion
Yanina Wickmayer. In the doubles, she again partnered Kirilenko, defeating Ivanova/Yakimova, before losing to Coin/Pelletier in the quarterfinals. At
Madrid, she lost in the first rounds of both the singles and the doubles tournaments, falling to
Alona Bondarenko in two sets in the singles, and partnering
Vladimíra Uhlířová in the doubles to lose to Makarova/Kudrayvtseva in the super-tiebreaker. Cîrstea then had her breakthrough tournament at the
French Open. She began with wins over
Carly Gullickson and an upset of the 21st seed
Alizé Cornet 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 three set upset over the fifth-seeded
Jelena Janković to reach her first major quarterfinal, where she faced the 30th seed
Sam Stosur, 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 for the doubles tournament, defeating Grönefeld/Niculescu in the first round and losing to Errani/Pennetta in the second round. At
Wimbledon, Cîrstea was seeded 28th. She defeated
Edina Gallovits and
Sania Mirza in the first two rounds, but lost to the eighth seed
Victoria Azarenka 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 in Båstad, Cîrstea defeated the qualifier
Johanna Larsson before losing to
Gisela Dulko 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. 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, she defeated
Meghann Shaughnessy and
Anna-Lena Grönefeld before losing to the fourth seed
Elena Dementieva, but achieved a career high ranking of No. 23. At the
US Open, Cîrstea was seeded 24th. She defeated
Ayumi Morita and
Stéphanie Dubois 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,
China Open,
Linz Open and
Kremlin Cup. She finished 2009 ranked No. 43 in the world, with a 21–24 match record. In the doubles tournament, she played with
Lucie Šafářová and defeated the team of
Sarah Borwell and
Marie-Ève Pelletier, in three sets. In the second round they lost to
Cara Black and
Anastasia Rodionova. 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 lost in the first round to
Andrea Hlaváčková/
Lucie Hradecká. At the
Mexican Open, Cîrstea defeated
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner before she lost to
Laura Pous Tió. Sorana played doubles again now with
Andreja Klepač as a partner. They won the first round by defeated
Eleni Daniilidou/
Jasmin Wöhr. They lost in the second round to
Irina-Camelia Begu/
Alexandra Panova. Cîrstea qualified in singles in
Indian Wells. In the first round she lost to
Alla Kudryavtseva. In the
2011 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. She paired with
Maria Elena Camerin for the doubles tournament defeating
Alberta Brianti/
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, a $100k tournament with a lot of top-100 players. She beat
Patty Schnyder in the first round and compatriot
Alexandra Dulgheru in the second of the
French Open before losing to
Li Na, in straight sets. She then made it into the main draw at
Wimbledon, where she lost in straight sets to
Pauline Parmentier. Cîrstea played doubles again with
Ayumi Morita of Japan defeating
Chuang Chia-jung/
Hsieh Su-wei. They won their second round against
Sophie Lefèvre/
Evgeniya Rodina. They lost in third round to Sabine Lisicki/Sam Stosur. In Båstad at the
2011 Swedish Open, Cîrstea defeated Mirjana Lučić in the first round. She lost in the second round to
Vesna Dolonc. At the
2011 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Sorana won her first round match against Andrea Hlaváčková. She lost then to
Tsvetana Pironkova. At the ITF Bucharest, Cîrstea beat her compatriots
Diana Enache and
Mădălina Gojnea, before losing in the third round to
Laura Pous Tió. 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, but lost in the second to
Jill Craybas in the third set tiebreaker. In Dallas, at the inaugural edition of the
Texas Tennis Open, Cîrstea beat Jarmila Gajdošová in the first round, in the second she lost to
Aravane Rezaï. She played doubles for the first time with
Alberta Brianti of Italy. In the first round they defeated
Kateryna&
Alona Bondarenko and in the second
Andreja Klepač/
Tatiana Poutchek. 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 of Japan in doubles. They defeated Casey Dellacqua and
Rennae Stubbs in the first round, but lost in the second to
María José Martínez Sánchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues. In Uzkebistan, she defeated
Bojana Jovanovski and
Aleksandra Krunić, 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/
Mandy Minella. Cîrstea won the title in the
2011 Open GDF Suez de Bretagne in Saint-Malo, France. She defeated
Estrella Cabeza Candela,
Eva Fernández Brugués, Laura Pous Tió and
Stefanie Vögele, before beating Silvia Soler Espinosa in straight sets. At the
2011 Generali Ladies Linz, Cîrstea played in the qualifying draw with great victories. She beat
Nikola Hofmanova and Silvia Soler Espinosa before she defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6–1, 6–2. In the first main-draw rounds, she beat
Tamira Paszek and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the fourth seed of the tournament, before she lost in third round to
Lucie Šafářová. In France, Cîrstea won a $50k tournament featuring top 100 players where she defeated
Paula Ormaechea, Stefanie Vögele,
Michaëlla Krajicek,
Akgul Amanmuradova, and Sofia Arvidsson. At the end of the year, she returned to the top 60 in the WTA singles rankings.
2012: Ascent to top 30 Cîrstea began 2012 ranked 60 in the world. --> Her first tournament at
Auckland, she lost in the first round to Flavia Pennetta. In doubles, she partnered with
Darija Jurak of Croatia; they lost their first-round match to
Kristina Barrois/
Anna-Lena Grönefeld. At Hobart, Cîrstea defeated
Ksenia Pervak in the first and
Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second. In third round, Cîrstea lost to
Angelique Kerber despite having two match points. In doubles, she paired again with
Darija Jurak. They beat
Kristina Barrois/
Jasmin Wöhr 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/
Vladimíra Uhlířová. At the
Pattaya Open, Cîrstea was seeded seventh. She defeated
Erika Sema in the first round and then
Misaki Doi 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 in the first round. In the second round, she lost to third seed Samantha Stosur. Sorana paired with
Anne Keothavong 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. 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 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 after she retired due to dizziness. Sorana defeated
Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the second round. In quarterfinals, Cîrstea beat
Olga Govortsova. She lost in her first semifinal of the tournament to Dominika Cibulková. In Stuttgart at the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Cîrstea lost in the first round to Anna Chakvetadze. At the
Portugal Open, she lost in the first round to Silvia Soler Espinosa. At the
Madrid Open, Sorana upset seventh seed
Marion Bartoli 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 and they lost in first round to Pennetta/Schiavone 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 and they lost in first round to
Zhang Shuai/Zheng Jie. In Eastbourne at the Aegon International, Sorana lost in the first round to defending champion No. 4 seed, Marion Bartoli. At
Wimbledon, 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 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, but was eliminated in round one in both events. 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, Cîrstea defeated 16th seed Sabine Lisicki, and in the second round, she lost to
Anna Tatishvili in three sets. In
Guangzhou, Cîrstea advanced to the semifinals before losing to
Laura Robson.
2013: First Premier 5 final, top 25 debut Sorana began the year at the
2013 ASB Classic where she lost her opener to
Heather Watson. The following week, she defeated
Nina Bratchikova before losing to
Lauren Davis in the second round at
Hobart. Cîrstea reached the third round of the
Australian Open 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 in Miami, Cîrstea made the 4th round after defeating Angelique Kerber in straight sets. She fell to Jelena Janković in the next round. At the
French Open, she reached the third round losing to world No. 1 and eventual champion, Serena Williams. She then reached the quarterfinal of the
Aegon Classic falling to
Donna Vekić. Cîrstea lost to
Camila Giorgi in the second round at
Wimbledon. She began the
US Open Series with a semifinal at the
Bank of the West Classic 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 in two sets. 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 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She had reached now the 21st place in the WTA rankings. At the
US Open, she defeated qualifier
Sharon Fichman before then being upset by qualifier Kurumi Nara in the second round. Her next tournament was the
Guangzhou International Open where she suffered another early-round loss, this time to Bojana Jovanovski. She advanced to the second round of the
Pan Pacific Open after beating Julia Görges. She then defeated
Misaki Doi before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round. She then lost her opening matches at
Beijing and
Linz 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. In
Sydney, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier and eventual champion,
Tsvetana Pironkova. Seeded 21st at the
Australian Open, she fell in the first round to
Marina Erakovic. Seeded third at the
Pattaya Open, Cîrstea got her first win of the season by beating
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the first round. She ended up losing in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist
Karolína Plíšková, despite having match points 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, in the second round. She was beaten in the quarterfinals by eighth seed and 2011 champion,
Caroline Wozniacki. Seeded 25th at the
Indian Wells Masters, she lost in the second round to qualifier
Camila Giorgi. Seeded 25th in
Miami, she was defeated in the second round by Pironkova. Cîrstea began her clay-court season at the
Family Circle Cup in Charleston. Seeded eighth, she was ousted from the tournament in the second round by
Teliana Pereira. At the
Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, she lost in the first round to German wildcard and 2011 champion,
Julia Görges. 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 and Bojana Jovanovski. At the
Stuttgart Open, she lost in the first round to German wildcard
Julia Görges. She took fifth seed Petra Kvitová to three sets in their opener at the
Madrid Open. 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 where she was the 26th seed. In the first round, she beat qualifier
Aleksandra Wozniak and then
Teliana Pereira. Cîrstea lost in the third round to sixth seed Jelena Janković. At
Wimbledon, Cîrstea was the 29th seed. In the first round, she lost to young American qualifier
Victoria Duval. Cîrstea was the top seed at
Baku Cup and defeated Tunisian wildcard
Ons Jabeur in the first round but then lost to eventual semifinalist Stefanie Vögele in straight sets. Cîrstea was the eighth seed at the
Washington Open. She defeated
Kiki Bertens 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, Cîrstea easily beat
Heather Watson in the first round. In the second round, Cîrstea lost to seventh seed
Eugenie Bouchard. At the
Guangzhou International Open, she lost in the first round to qualifier
Petra Martić. At the
Wuhan Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round of qualifying to top seed
Zarina Diyas. 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. 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: Loss of form 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. She lost in the first round to qualifier
Alexandra Panova. 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. As the second seed, Cîrstea was defeated in the first round by American
Jessica Pegula. 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, in straight sets. Cîrstea competed next at the
Copa Colsanitas. 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 in doubles, she won her first match of the year by beating
Mandy Minella/
Olga Savchuk in the first round. Then, they lost to the eventual champions
Paula Cristina Gonçalves/
Beatriz Haddad Maia 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. With the
French Open 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. 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. 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. Trying to qualify for the main draw, Cîrstea played qualifying for the
Wimbledon Championships. She won her first round over
Naomi Osaka. She then lost in the next round to fourth seed
Sachia Vickery. 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. She was defeated in the quarterfinals by eighth seed and eventual finalist
Yulia Putintseva. Next, she traveled to her country to play at the
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
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
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
US Open; she lost in the final round of qualifying to
Mayo Hibi. Cîrstea fell in the first round of qualifying at the
Japan Open to third seed
María Teresa Torró Flor. Her final tournament of the year was at the
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: Madrid quarterfinals, back to top 100 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 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
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. 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
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
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. Cîrstea kicked off her clay-court season at the
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
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
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
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
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. 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
Eastbourne International. She retired during her first round of qualifying match over seventh seed
Varvara Lepchenko. At the
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
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
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
Western & Southern Open, she lost in the final round of qualifying to seventh seed Alizé Cornet. At the
Connecticut Open, she lost in the second round of qualifying to
Louisa Chirico. Playing at the
US Open, she lost in the first round to compatriot
Ana Bogdan in three sets. After the US Open, Cîrstea competed at the
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
Tashkent Open. As the seventh seed, she was defeated in the first round by Francesca Schiavone. Playing at the
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
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
Internationaux de la Vienne in Poitiers, France, she lost in the first round to Anett Kontaveit. Playing her last tournament of 2016 at the
Open de Limoges, she was defeated in the second round by
Tamara Korpatsch. She ended the year ranked 81.
2017: Australian Open fourth round Cîrstea started her 2017 season at the
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
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
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
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
Hungarian Ladies Open and at
Indian Wells, she won her first singles match in nearly two months against
Monica Puig in the first round of the
Miami Open. Cîrstea fell to Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. She made the quarterfinals of the
Madrid Open where she lost to
Kristina Mladenovic, and the semifinals of the
Nuremberg Cup. At the
French Open she lost to 21st seed Carla Suárez Navarro in the second round. Her first tournament of the grass court season was at
Eastbourne, where she entered the main draw as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of
CoCo Vandeweghe; she lost to
Hsieh Su-wei 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
Wimbledon, defeating 23rd seed
Kiki Bertens in the first round, before bowing out to the eventual champion, Garbiñe Muguruza. At
Bucharest, she lost in the first round to compatriot
Ana Bogdan, before entering the
Rogers Cup in Toronto. Qualifying for the main draw, defeating
Aleksandra Wozniak and
Camila Giorgi, she was defeated in the first round by
Caroline Garcia. She next lost in the first qualifying round of
Cincinnati to
Aleksandra Krunić, before entering the
US Open. Defeating
Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in the first round, she fell to
Jeļena Ostapenko in the second round. At
Seoul, Cîrstea defeated
Misa Eguchi and
Nicole Gibbs, before falling to
Luksika Kumkhum. At
Wuhan, she defeated
Wang Yafan in the first round, before being defeated by
Wang Qiang. At
Beijing, she reached the quarterfinals, defeating
Mona Barthel, Christina McHale, and
Karolína Plíšková; the latter win was her first against a top ten opponent since 2014. She lost in the quarterfinal match against Ostapenko. At
Linz, she defeated
Alison Van Uytvanck and
Natalia Vikhlyantseva, before being defeated by
Magdaléna Rybáriková. Her final tournament of the year was at
Luxembourg, where she was defeated in the first round by
Verónica Cepede Royg. She ended the year ranked No. 37.
2018: Mixed results, rankings drop Cîrstea's first tournament of the year was at
Brisbane, where she defeated
Jennifer Brady in the first round before losing to
Anastasija Sevastova. At
Hobart, she lost in the first round to
Heather Watson, whilst at the
Australian Open, she defeated
Zarina Diyas in the first round, before falling to
Lucie Šafářová. She next entered
St. Petersburg, where she lost in the first round to
Dominika Cibulková; she next won her
Fed Cup tie against
Carol Zhao. She next competed in
Doha, where she defeated
Maria Sakkari and
Elise Mertens, before falling to
Garbiñe Muguruza. At
Budapest, she lost in the first round to lucky loser
Viktória Kužmová. At
Indian Wells, she defeated compatriot Monica Niculescu in the first round, before falling to
Venus Williams. In receipt of a first-round bye at
Miami, she was defeated in the second round by Hsieh Su-wei. At
İstanbul, she lost in the first round to
Yulia Putintseva, whilst at
Madrid, she defeated
Kateřina Siniaková, before losing to
Daria Kasatkina. At
Rome, she lost in the first round to qualifier
Danielle Collins. At
Nuremberg, she defeated
Andrea Petkovic and
Madison Brengle, before retiring from her quarterfinal match against
Alison Riske. At the
French Open, she lost in the first round to
Daria Gavrilova. Cîrstea's first grass-court tournament of the year was at
Mallorca, where she lost in the first round to
Johanna Larsson. Entering
Eastbourne, she lost in the first round to
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, whilst, at
Wimbledon, she defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková, before losing to
Evgeniya Rodina. At her home tournament in
Bucharest, she reached the quarterfinals by defeating Çağla Büyükakçay and
Maryna Zanevska, before falling to first seed and eventual champion Anastasija Sevastova. At the
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
Cincinnati, she defeated
Vania King, before falling to
Ajla Tomljanović. At the
US Open, she defeated Alison Riske, before falling to
Maria Sharapova. Cîrstea failed to qualify for
Wuhan, losing to
Nicole Gibbs in the first qualifying round, and also failed to qualify for
Beijing, losing in the final qualifying round to
Polona Hercog. Gaining entry as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of
Ashleigh Barty, she lost in the first round to
Kiki Bertens. At
Linz, she was defeated in the first round by
Jil Teichmann. Her final event of the year was at the
ITF tournament in Dubai, where she defeated
Yuliya Hatouka, before falling to the eventual champion
Peng Shuai. Cîrstea ended the year ranked No. 86.
2019: First US Open third round in 10 years Cîrstea's first tournament of the year was at the
Shenzhen Open. She reached the quarterfinals where she lost to two-time finalist and eventual finalist, Alison Riske. Ranked 84 at the
Australian Open, she was defeated in the first round by
Rebecca Peterson. At
Doha, she was defeated in the first qualifying round by doubles specialist
Shuko Aoyama. At
Budapest, she defeated Anna Bondár and Aleksandra Krunić, before falling to Anastasia Potapova. At the
Indian Wells Challenger, she received a first-round bye, before falling to
Kristie Ahn in the second round. At the
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
Miami Open to
Laura Siegemund. At
Lugano, Cîrstea defeated Mona Barthel in the first round, before losing to the eventual champion Polona Hercog. At
İstanbul, she defeated compatriot
Irina Bara, before losing to
Barbora Strýcová. At
Madrid, she defeated
Madison Keys in the first round, before falling to
Caroline Garcia. She had a strong run to the semifinals of
Nuremberg, defeating
Kirsten Flipkens,
Laura Ioana Paar, and
Nina Stojanović, before falling to the eventual champion
Yulia Putintseva. At the
French Open, she defeated
Kaja Juvan, before losing to
Aliona Bolsova. Cîrstea's next match was at
Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to
Amanda Anisimova. At
Båstad, where she was the top seed, she lost in the first round to
Johanna Larsson. At
Bucharest, she lost in the first round to compatriot
Jaqueline Cristian. In
Jūrmala, she was defeated in the first round by
Valentina Ivakhnenko. She did not play another match until the
US Open, where she defeated
Kateřina Siniaková and Aliona Bolsova, before falling to
Taylor Townsend. At
Hiroshima, she lost in the first round to Sara Sorribes Tormo. This was followed by a run to the final at
Tashkent, the tournament she had won 11 years prior. She defeated
Denisa Allertová,
Ysaline Bonaventure,
Danka Kovinić, and
Katarina Zavatska, before losing in the final to
Alison Van Uytvanck in three sets. At
Luxembourg, she defeated
Pauline Parmentier in the first round, before losing to the defending champion,
Julia Görges. Her final tournament of the year was the 125k at
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: Consecutive US Open third round Cîrstea started her 2020 season at the
Shenzhen Open. She lost in the first round to Chinese wildcard
Wang Xiyu. Despite qualifying for the
Hobart International, she withdrew from the tournament due to a left leg injury. Ranked 74 at the
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
Dubai Championships, Cîrstea fell in the first round to
Anett Kontaveit. In
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
Palermo Open. She lost in the first round to
Sara Errani in three sets. At the
Western & Southern Open in New York rather than Cincinnati, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying by
Anna Kalinskaya. Ranked No. 77 at the
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
French Open to 14th seed Rybakina. In October, Cîrstea competed at the first edition of the
J&T Banka Ostrava Open. She lost in the first round of qualifying to
Paula Badosa. At the
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
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: Istanbul title, first top 10 win in 4 years When Cîrstea landed in Australia for the
Australian Open and she had to enter a hard quarantine as she travelled on a flight on which a fellow passenger tested positive for
COVID-19. After this, she participated in the warm-up tournament designed for those players affected by this hard quarantine, the
Grampians Trophy. There, she beat second seed,
Belinda Bencic, in the second round. She fell in the quarterfinals to
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
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, in the second round. She lost in the third round to 19th seed
Markéta Vondroušová. Seeded sixth at the
Lyon Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round to
Nina Stojanović. In
Dubai, she was defeated in the second round by 15th seed
Anett Kontaveit. At the
Miami Open, she fell in the second round to 22nd seed Kontaveit. Cîrstea's first clay-court tournament of the year was at the
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
Madrid as a wildcard, she was beaten in the first round by
Jessica Pegula. At the
Internationaux de Strasbourg, she reached her second final of the season; she lost to fifth seed Barbora Krejčíková. Ranked 54 at the
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
German Open in Berlin. She lost in the first round to sixth seed
Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded sixth at the first edition of the
Bad Homburg Open, she was defeated in the first round by
Andrea Petkovic. Ranked 45 at
Wimbledon, she stunned 12th seed, two-time Grand Slam winner, and former world No. 1,
Victoria Azarenka, 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
Canadian Open in Montreal. She lost in the second round to eighth seed Azarenka. At the
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
Chicago Women's Open, she was eliminated in the first round by
Tereza Martincová. Ranked 39 at the
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
Slovenia Open, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinals where she lost to eventual champion
Jasmine Paolini. At the
Ostrava Open, she was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Kontaveit. Seeded 32nd at
Indian Wells, she lost in the third round to fourth seed
Elina Svitolina. Cîrstea ended the year ranked 38.
2022: Australian Open fourth round Cîrstea started her 2022 season at the first edition of the
Melbourne Summer Set 2. Seeded fifth, she lost in the second round to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova. Seeded ninth at the
Adelaide International 2, she was defeated in the first round by Anhelina Kalinina. Ranked No. 38 at the
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
St. Petersburg Trophy to second seed and eventual champion,
Anett Kontaveit. In
Doha, she was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by fifth seed and two-time finalist, Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded second at the
Lyon Open, she was ousted in the semifinals by
Dayana Yastremska. Seeded No. 26 in
Indian Wells, she reached the fourth round where she lost to 24th seed and 2015 champion,
Simona Halep. Seeded 24th at the
Miami Open, she was defeated in the second round by
Zhang Shuai. Cîrstea began her clay court season at the
İstanbul Cup. Seeded second and the defending champion, she made it to the semifinals where she fell to third seed
Veronika Kudermetova. In
Madrid, she was beaten in the first round by Spaniard
Nuria Párrizas Díaz. At the
Italian Open, she lost in the first round to ninth seed and eventual finalist,
Ons Jabeur. Seeded third and last year finalist at the
Internationaux de Strasbourg, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier,
Ekaterina Makarova, in three sets. Seeded 26th at the
French Open, she lost in the second round to 2018 finalist
Sloane Stephens. Cîrstea started her grass court season at the
Birmingham Classic. Seeded sixth, she reached the semifinals where she fell to eighth seed Zhang Shuai. In
Eastbourne, she retired during her first-round match against Anhelina Kalinina due to illness. Seeded 26th at
Wimbledon, she lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist
Tatjana Maria. Seeded fourth at the
Prague Open, Cîrstea fell in her first-round match to qualifier
Oksana Selekhmeteva. Cîrstea began her US Open preparation 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: Miami semifinal, win over world No. 2, top 30 At the
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 in
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
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 to become the first ever champion in the inaugural edition of that
WTA 125 tournament. Seeded 30th at the
US Open, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinal of a major for the second time, and 14 years after her first quarterfinal appearance at the
2009 French Open. Her run to the quarterfinals included wins over
Kayla Day and
Anna Kalinskaya 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
French Open finalist Karolína Muchová in straight sets.
2024–2025: Cleveland singles and Madrid doubles titles At the
2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, Cîrstea reached the semifinals defeating
Sofia Kenin, 13th seed Veronika Kudermetova,
Donna Vekić and then seventh seed Markéta Vondroušová in a quarterfinal during which she saved six match points. She lost in the last four to eventual champion
Jasmine Paolini. A foot injury which required surgery meant she missed the second half of the 2024 season. Given a wildcard entry, Cîrstea made it through to the quarterfinals at the
2025 Dubai Tennis Championships, with wins over 10th seed
Daria Kasatkina, qualifier
Alycia Parks and eighth seed
Emma Navarro, before losing to 14th seed Karolína Muchová. The following week, she reached the quarterfinals at the
2025 ATX Open, defeating Laura Siegemund and second seed
Diana Shnaider. Her run was ended by fifth seed and eventual finalist
McCartney Kessler. Partnering Anna Kalinskaya, Cîrstea won her first WTA 1000 doubles title at the
2025 Madrid Open, defeating Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens in the final. She overcame
Mihaela Buzărnescu, fifth seed
Varvara Gracheva and
María Lourdes Carlé to make it into the semifinals at the
2025 Iași Open, at which point she lost to sixth seed
Jil Teichmann. In August, at the
2025 Tennis in the Land, Cîrstea qualified for the main draw and defeated
Moyuka Uchijima, Jil Teichmann, top seed
Liudmila Samsonova and
Anastasia Zakharova to reach the final, where she overcame
Ann Li to win her third WTA singles title and first in four years. At the
2025 Japan Open, wins over wildcard entrant
Moyuka Uchijima,
Katie Boulter and
Viktorija Golubic saw Cîrstea make it through to the semifinals, at which point her run was ended by fourth seed and eventual champion,
Leylah Fernandez. Seeded seventh at the
2025 Hong Kong Open, she defeated
Dalma Gálfi and
Ajla Tomljanović, before losing to second seed Leylah Fernandez for the second successive tournament, this time in the quarterfinals.
2026: Farewell season,Singles and Doubles titles In December 2025, Cîrstea confirmed that the
2026 WTA Tour would be her final season as a professional tennis player and that she planned to retire at the end of the year. During the 2026 Australian Open, Cîrstea was involved in a tense post-match exchange with Naomi Osaka following her second-round defeat, when she expressed frustration over Osaka’s vocalisations between points. Cîrstea offered a notably frosty handshake at the net. Entering the tournament seeded third, Cîrstea won the
2026 Transylvania Open, defeating first seed
Emma Raducanu in the final. This was Cîrstea's fourth career singles title, and she won it without dropping a set. At the
2026 Dubai Tennis Championships, Cîrstea proceeded to the 3rd round winning over
Aliaksandra Sasnovich and 10th seed
Linda Noskova extending her winning match-streak to 7 before losing to
Alexandra Eala. She lost in the singles quarterfinal of
Linz to top seed
Mirra Andreeva. However, in the doubles she partnered with
Zhang Shuai to win her seventh career doubles title. ==Playing style==