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Cirstea overpowers Wang to reach French Open quarter-finals / Photo: Alain JOCARD - AFP
Cirstea overpowers Wang to reach French Open quarter-finals
Sorana Cirstea continued her renaissance this season by downing Chinese world number 148 Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Sunday to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Cirstea, who will retire at the end of the season, is enjoying a golden last year on tour. She backed up a semi-final run at the Italian Open by equalling her previous best performance at Roland Garros and progressing to the last eight for the first time since 2009.
The 36-year-old will face either Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva or Switzerland's 170th-ranked Jil Teichmann.
Cirstea got a double break ahead to lead 5-1 in the first set before Wang hit back as the Romanian served for the opener.
The 18th seed made no such error the second time around as she polished off the opener in just under an hour on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The second set followed much the same rhythm as the first with Cirstea storming to five games before Wang fought back.
This time the 25-year-old took Cirstea all the way as the veteran had to dig deep to stave off her opponent in a tie-break.
D.Ch. Nadeau--SMC
