SORANA CIRSTEA PROFILEFull Name: Sorana Mihaela Cirstea
Residence: Targoviste, Romania
DOB: April 7, 1990
Birthplace: Bucharest, Romania
Height: 5' 9" (1.76 m)
Weight: 130 lbs. (59 kg)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Status: Pro (2006)
Year In Detail
JANUARY - Fell in Brisbane and Sydney qualifying; reached 2r at Australian Open (l. to No.10 seed Peer).
FEBRUARY - Reached 2r at Memphis (l. to No.6 seed Marino); reached 2r at Acapulco (l. to Pous-Tio).
MARCH - Fell 1r at Indian Wells (as qualifier, l. to Kudryavtseva); fell 1r at Miami (as WC, l. to Zheng).
APRIL - Fell 1r at Marbella (l. to No.8 seed Errani).
MAY - Reached 3r at Roland Garros (d. No.27 seed Dulgheru en route; l. to No.6 seed and eventual champion Li).
JUNE - Reached 2r at Birmingham (l. to No.4 seed Hantuchova); fell in Eastbourne qualifying; fell 1r at Wimbledon (l. to Parmentier).
JULY - Reached 2r at Bastad (l. to Dolonts).
Career In Review
2004 - Played first events of career on ITF Circuit, winning two doubles titles.
2005 - Won one singles title and two doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2006 - Played first WTA main draw at Stockholm, falling 1r (l. to Kanepi); fell in qualifying once; won two singles titles and two doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2007 - Near-Top 100 season; in second WTA main draw, runner-up at Budapest (l. to Dulko in final); was first Romanian to reach a WTA final since Dragomir Ilie in June 2000 ('s-Hertogenbosch); SF at Bali (l. to Hantuchova); reached 2r once; fell 1r three times and in qualifying three times (incl. Wimbledon, US Open); won one singles title and two doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2008 - First Top 50 season; won first WTA title at Tashkent (d. Lisicki in final); SF at Luxembourg (l. to Dementieva); QF four times, at Acapulco (l. to Kanepi 62 46 76(6); held 2mp at 6-4 in tie-break), Fès, 's-Hertogenbosch and New Haven; reached 3r once and 2r seven times (incl. Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open); fell 1r four times (incl. first Grand Slam main draw at Australian Open, Olympics) and in qualifying twice; made Top 100 debut on February 25 (rose from No.107 to No.100) and Top 50 debut on September 8 (after US Open; rose from No.53 to No.45); won first two WTA doubles titles; won one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2009 - Second Top 50 season; SF twice, at Marbella (l. to Suárez Navarro) and Los Angeles (l. to Stosur); QF twice, at Estoril (l. to Wickmayer) and Roland Garros (first Grand Slam QF; l. to Stosur); reached 3r three times (incl. Wimbledon, US Open) and 2r three times (incl. Bastad - l. to Dulko 63 46 76(5); held 4mp - 3mp at 5-3 third set, 1mp at 5-4 third set); fell 1r 14 times (incl. Australian Open); set new career-high of No.23 on August 17 (after Cincinnati).
2010 - Third straight Top 100 season; SF at Estoril (l. to Parra Santonja); QF twice, at Istanbul and Copenhagen; reached 2r six times (incl. Australian Open and Eastbourne - l. to Kuznetsova 46 76(6) 76(4); held mp at 6-5 in second set tie-break); fell 1r 14 times (incl. other three majors) and in qualifying three times; won third WTA doubles title at Estoril (w/Medina Garrigues); withdrew from Fès w/acute pneumonia.
Career Highlights
SINGLES
Winner (1): 2011 - ITF/Cagnes-sur-Mer-FRA; 2008 - Tashkent; 2007 - ITF/Bucharest 6-ROU; 2006 - ITF/Albufeira-POR, ITF/Bucharest 2-ROU; 2005 - ITF/Porto Santo 6-POR.
Finalist (1): 2007 - Budapest.
DOUBLES
Winner (3): 2010 - Estoril (w/Medina Garrigues); 2008 - Fès (w/Pavlyuchenkova), Luxembourg (w/Erakovic), ITF/Athens 2-GRE (w/Voskoboeva); 2007 - ITF/Las Palmas de Gran Canaria-ESP (w/Gojnea), ITF/Bucharest 6-ROU (w/Szatmari); 2006 - ITF/Bucharest 1-ROU (w/Niculescu), ITF/Madrid 2-ESP (w/O'Brien); 2005 - ITF/Porto Santo 4-POR, ITF/Porto Santo 5-POR (both w/Orasanu); 2004 - ITF/Timisoara-ROU, ITF/Arad-ROU (both w/Niculescu).
Finalist (4): 2010 - Budapest (w/Medina Garrigues); 2009 - Barcelona (w/Klepac), Fès (w/Kirilenko); 2008 - New Haven (w/Niculescu).
Biography
Coached by Rodrigo Nascimento; trains with adidas Development Program ... Introduced to tennis at age 4 by mother, Liliana ... Father is Mihai; younger brother is Mihnea ... Full name is Sorana Mihaela Cirstea ... Speaks Romanian, English and Spanish and is studying French ... Likes all surfaces; favorite shot is forehand ... Enjoys playing all ball sports, going shopping, watching movies, reading, doing crosswords and looking after her two parrots ... Favorite cities are New York, and London ("big cities with lots to do") ... Self-described as ambitious, stubborn and happy ... Most admires Steffi Graf ... Goal is to reach Top 10.
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