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Sorana Cirstea
WTA · World No. 26

Sorana Cirstea

🇷🇴Romania · Age 36 · Born 7 April 1990

About

Born in Bucharest, Romania, Sorana Cîrstea turned professional in 2006 after a successful junior career reaching No. 6 combined. Her breakthrough came in 2009 with a Roland Garros quarterfinal and in 2013 reaching her first WTA 1000 final in Toronto, peaking at No. 21. After injury setbacks, she staged comebacks, winning WTA titles in Tashkent (2008), Istanbul (2021), Cleveland (2025), and Cluj-Napoca (2026). As of April 2026, she is ranked around No. 26-29 WTA, in her announced final season, having recently reached Madrid third round after beating Taylah Grant.

Profile updated 29 Apr 2026
Right now
26
WTA rank
1,540
Ranking points
1-1
7-day record
50.0%
7-day win rate
5
Career titles
#22
Career-high rank

Recent form

WL

In the news

“"I will retire from tennis at the end of this year, and I will retire a happy person - and that is thanks to the memories you gave me this week in Cluj!””

News last refreshed 29 Apr 2026
How they play

Playing style

Sorana Cîrstea is an aggressive baseline player with a powerful forehand as her favorite shot, using depth and spin to dictate rallies from the back of the court. Right-handed with a two-handed backhand, she employs varied serves including flat, slice, and kick to set up points, excelling on all surfaces but showing consistency in recent years through improved tactical awareness and mental resilience, making her dangerous in prolonged exchanges against top opponents.

Serve
Cirstea employs a mix of flat serves for power and speed, slice serves that curve away from opponents, and kick serves that bounce high to push returners back, winning around 67-70% of first-serve points with solid hold rates above 70%.
Groundstrokes
Her forehand is a weapon with heavy topspin and depth, allowing her to control rallies; backhand is reliable with two hands, used for consistent depth and occasional passing shots, converting over 50% of breakpoints.
Movement
Solid court coverage with efficient footwork drills emphasizing quick steps and balance; good defensive ability on all surfaces, though prefers hard courts where she has 51.6% career win rate, but historically weaker on grass at 43.9%.
Weakness
Struggles against top players with a career 29.6% win rate vs Top 10 (1-4 last 52 weeks), often due to lower breakpoint creation (0.76 per game) and vulnerability in return games against strong servers; opponents exploit by keeping her pinned back.

Surface splits

Career surface splits.

Hard
52.1% 264–243
Clay
53.8% 126–108
Grass
45.0% 36–44

Serve & return fingerprint

2 matches of statistics in the last 7 days. Aces/match: 2 · DFs/match: 1

1st serve %1st-serve W%2nd-serve W%Return 1st W%BP saved
1st serve in
50.5%
1st-serve points won
66.5%
2nd-serve points won
51.0%
Return on 1st
27.0%
Return on 2nd
56.5%

Big-match temperament

1–0
Tiebreaks (this week)
0–1
Deciders (this week)
0/1
Breadsticks given/taken

Notable rivalries

Coco Gauff
Gauff leads 3-0, all in three sets including Madrid 2026 3R (4-6,7-5,6-1) where Cirstea took set despite controversy over coaching complaints; memorable for Gauff's illness comeback.
Emma Raducanu
Cirstea d. Raducanu 6-0 6-2 in Cluj-Napoca 2026 final for home title without dropping set; Raducanu required physio for BP check.
Aryna Sabalenka
Cirstea's upset win over No.2 Sabalenka en route to Miami SF 2023, her biggest career victory.
Serena Williams
Lost Toronto 2013 final to No.1 Williams after beating multiple Top 10s; highlight of peak year.

Rivalry network

Most-played opponents inside our 7-day rolling window.

C. Gauff0–1T. C. Grant1–0
Career

Career snapshot

5
Career titles
#22
Career high
2006
First season
SeasonYear-end rankW–LTitles
20173730–260
20188417–250
20197421–210
20207115–101
20213924–181
20224522–210
20232631–221
20246912–160
20254330–201
2026414–10

Team and equipment

Head coach
Adrian Cruciat
Height
178 cm
Plays
Right-handed
Backhand
Two-handed
Racquet
Yonex VCORE
Apparel
Yonex

Career highlights

  • Career-high No. 21 (Aug 2013)
  • Toronto WTA 1000 final (2013)
  • RG QF (2009), US Open QF (2023)
  • 4 WTA singles titles: Tashkent 2008, Istanbul 2021, Cleveland 2025, Cluj-Napoca 2026
  • 7 WTA doubles titles inc Madrid 1000 (2025)
  • 16 Top 100 year-ends
  • AO R16 (2017,2022)
  • Miami SF (2023)
Watch & follow

Where to follow

Live scores when Cirstea is on court appear on our tennis today and live streaming pages. The full WTA top-100 sits at our live WTA rankings. Compare Cirstea on the player statistical deep dive.

Head-to-head vs Aryna Sabalenka →

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