Sorana Cirstea has announced she will retire after the season, but the 36-year-old Romanian sure isn’t just cruising through tournaments in the meantime.
Cirstea defeated a world No. 1 for the first time since turning professional in 2006 when she rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday in an Italian Open third-round match in Rome.
“I’m very, very happy,” Cirstea said. “Aryna is an amazing player. I thought I played really well today. I’m working really, really hard. It’s nice to have this result as payoff.”
Cirstea’s previous highest-ranked victory was also over Sabalenka, when the latter was No. 2 in the world in 2023. That upset came in the Miami Open quarterfinals.
Sorana Cirstea’s reaction after beating Aryna Sabalenka in Rome
A 36 year old veteran who’s spent 20 years of her life playing pro tennis
To get her 1st win over a #1 in her final year on tour is so special
Look at that smile…
Just priceless 🇷🇴🥹 pic.twitter.com/SW9MOMzDie
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 9, 2026
Cirstea won her fourth career title earlier this year when she prevailed in a tournament in Romania. She isn’t playing like someone winding down her career as she improved her record to 25-7 this season.
But she said her stellar play hasn’t led her to question the retirement decision. “Maybe if I win the tournament, I promise I’ll think about it,” Cirstea said with a smile.
Sabalenka sailed through the opening set before the tide turned. She was dealing with pain in her lower back and even used a medical timeout while losing 4-3 in the final set.
“Felt like my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level,” Sabalenka said. “She stepped in and played incredible tennis. Didn’t really give me much opportunities. … But I guess we never lose, we only learn, so it’s OK.
“Probably it’s my lower back, connected to the hip, which is limiting me from the full rotation.”
While Sabalenka turns her focus to mending her body, Cirstea moves on to face No. 13 seed Linda Noskova of Czechia. Noskova sailed to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova on Saturday.
In another upset, No. 21 Elise Mertens of Belgium took down No. 9 Jasmine Paolini of Italy 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Mertens had a 3-0 edge in aces and converted 5 of 8 break points.
Coco Gauff Survives Solana Sierra Scare to Advance
No. 3 Coco Gauff recovered from a slow start to post a 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 victory over Argentina’s Solana Sierra. No. 8 Mirra Andreeva of Russia fought off Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 win. No. 16 Iva Jovic defeated Taylor Townsend 7-5, 6-2 in a battle of Americans.
No. 22 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia beat a higher seed, downing No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3. Also, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Zheng Qinwen of China.
Jannik Sinner Extends ATP Masters Winning Run to 29 Matches
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner extended his ATP 1000 match winning streak to 29 on Saturday with a routine 6-3, 6-4 victory over Austria’s Sebastian Ofner at the Italian Open.
Sinner, who hails from Italy, fell in the 2025 finals of the tournament in Rome to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. The Italian is attempting to capture the “Career Golden Masters,” winning all nine ATP Masters events, a feat only achieved by Serbia’s Novak Djokovic since the series started in 1990.
“It is an amazing feel to be back,” Sinner said after the match. “The first match, the most important thing is not to lose. The level will eventually come day by day. Since day one, this has been a very special tournament for me. Every year when you come here, you reflect about the year a little bit, being Italian and in a year a lot of things can change. I am happy to be here.”
Sinner did not face a break point in the match against Ofner. He broke the Austrian’s serve in the fourth game of the first set and the opening game of the second set. His play on second serves was the difference as Sinner won 15 of 21 of his own second serves (71%) and captured nearly half (14 of 29) of Ofner’s second offerings.
Sinner will face unseeded Alexei Popyrin in the third round, as the Australian recovered from a poor second set to defeat No. 26 Czech Jakub Mensik, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Mensik made 33 unforced errors in the final match of the day.
Nikoloz Basilashvili Upsets Ben Shelton in Three-Set Battle
In addition to Mensik, seven other seeded players fell on Saturday. No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime dropped a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) decision to Argentine Mariano Navone, and No. 5 Ben Shelton fell to Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Shelton was broken on back-to-back service games in the first set and only hit one of his dozen aces in the deciding set, during which he only produced five winners against 11 unforced errors.
“I was extremely tight from the beginning of the match,” Basilashvili said. “For me, it means a lot to have these kinds of matches, especially (against a) Top 10 player. Super happy and I am looking forward to the next match.”
The other seeded players to fall were No. 17 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who lost to Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina, 6-3, 7-5, No. 24 Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who dropped a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 decision to Italian Mattia Bellucci, No. 27 Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who was edged by Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1), and No. 28 Corentin Moutet of France, who was eliminated by Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4).
Arthur Fils Retires
Moreover, No. 15 Arthur Fils of France, who recently won in Barcelona, retired while trailing 4-0 to Andrea Pellegrino of Italy.
Seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia advanced in a walkover versus Czech Tomas Machac. No. 10 Italian Flavio Cobolli defeated France’s Terence Atmane, 7-6 (1), 6-3, while No. 12 Andrey Rubrev of Russia ousted Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, 6-4, 6-4.
No. 20 Frances Tiafoe came from behind to edge Peru’s Ignacio Buse, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, No. 21 Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina knocked off Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin, 7-6 (2), 6-4 and No. 30 Brandon Nakashima routed Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-0.
In Saturday’s lone second-round match involving unseeded players, Spanish lucky loser Martin Landaluce swept Croatia’s Marin Cilic, 6-4, 6-4.
