"Sorana Cirstea's Performance at US Open 2023"

Romania’s Sorana Cirstea delivered a thrilling upset at the 2023 US Open, defeating former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in a three-set battle. Cirstea, seeded 30th, secured her first-ever fourth-round appearance in New York and avenged her previous 0-2 record against the fourth-seeded Rybakina.

Cirstea expressed her elation after the match, acknowledging the tough challenge Rybakina presented. She attributed her victory to a well-executed game plan and the enthusiastic support of the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd, which included singer Seal. The 33-year-old Cirstea, who had struggled in third-round matches at the US Open in the past, hadn’t defeated a Top 5 player since her Miami semifinal run earlier in the year.

Throughout the match, Cirstea’s aggressive style and ability to take the ball on the rise troubled Rybakina, who struggled with unforced errors, committing 56 to Cirstea’s 30 winners. Despite a closely contested second set and Rybakina having two set points at 5-6, Cirstea remained resilient, forcing a tie-break that ultimately went Rybakina’s way. In the decisive third set, Rybakina broke back to level at 4-5 but faltered with a double fault on match point.

Cirstea’s victory marks her first Grand Slam fourth-round appearance since the 2022 Australian Open, and she will now face 15th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in her quest for a second Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance. Her previous quarterfinal appearance came in 2009 at Roland Garros when she was just 19 years old.

Re-reported from the article originally published in The India English.