Sorana Cirstea came through a promising opening match in Linz as she comfortably beat Roland Garros semi-finalist Kiki Bertens in straight sets.<\/p>\n
Cirstea has experienced the highs and lows of a professional tennis player. She made a career high ranking of No.21 in the world and is a former Grand Slam quarter-finalist, but more recently she has learned from the testing moments. In 2015, the Romanian fell out of the Top 100 and struggled with a combination of injuries and a loss of form.<\/p>\n
It is hard for players to rise to the higher levels in any sport, but often it can be even harder for a player to maintain the perfect results year upon year. Cirstea has beaten the best players in the world like Petra Kvitova and Li Na among others, but now she is on a journey to compete against those kind of players on a regular basis once again.<\/p>\n
Cirstea started off her first round against Netherland’s Kiki Bertens quite poorly. A string of unforced errors contributed to her early break deficit to her opponent, but she responded positively. The area that Cirstea has needed to sharpen up is her ability to win matches when she is not playing her best tennis, and one way of doing that is to try and play with better percentages. That is something that the Romanian has not always welcomed as she is naturally a flat-hitter that plays with high risk.<\/p>\n
In today’s match, Cirstea waited for the errors to present themselves by her opponent, which is far more impressive to see than outright winners after every groundstroke. Bertens failed to take advantage of two different break leads and Cirstea eventually took the first set 6-4.<\/p>\n
As the second set unraveled, it was clear to see that Cirstea was by far the most secure and solid player of the two. Bertens never really fully engaged herself to this first round encounter, which handed Cirstea the initiative.<\/p>\n
The Romanian eventually took the match 6-4 6-2 and progresses to the second round of the tournament in Linz. This could be a stepping stone for Cirstea to rise into the World’s Top 50 once again; a positive week in Austria would play a huge part in aiding her return to the World’s Top 50.<\/p>\n
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