By Erik Gudris | Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Photo credit: Getty Images
As they say, hope springs eternal, and in the Eternal City of Rome, Sorana Cirstea is turning hope into reality as she reaches new heights in her final season on tour.
The 36-year-old Romanian continues to enjoy her best season ever and achieved yet another career breakthrough as she reached her first-ever Italian Open semifinal with a 6-1, 7-6(0) win over Jelena Ostapenko.
The 26th-seeded Cirstea continues to earn impressive victories all week in Rome at the WTA 1000 event, which included earlier upsetting World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
For Cirstea, she feels, despite saying this is her last season, there’s no time limit on achieving one’s dreams.
“Yes, I always said there is no expiration date for ambition and dreams,” Cirstea said after the match. “And I think everyone can see that I absolutely love this sport. I have so much passion for it and for me to play here and being semifinal here in Rome, it’s absolutely amazing.
“And again, I’m so grateful to the sport and I’m just really, really enjoying my week in Rome so far.”
Cirstea enjoyed a comfortable first set, which she eventually sealed with a 6-1 score.
Yet, Ostapenko, the former 2017 Roland Garros champion, proved that she wasn’t ready to give up on the match.
The second set proved to be a back-and-forth tussle with both players trading service breaks inside the famed Foro Italico stadium.
Ostapenko looked poised to perhaps force a decisive final set when, with Cirstea serving at 4-5, the Latvian ripped a crosscourt return winner to reach 30-40 and set point.
Cristea responded with her own down the line backhand winner on the next point to force things to deuce. Cirstea eventually held for 5-all with yet another backhand winner.
The second set ended up in a tiebreak, with Cirstea stamping her authority from the start. Cirstea denied Ostapenko any chance to get into the tiebreak and denied the Latvian any points as she secured the 6-1, 7-6(0) victory.
“Jelena, she’s a very tough opponent, very tricky. She doesn’t give you any reason, so I knew that if I want to win today, I have to be aggressive,” Cirstea added. “So, again, very, very happy to be in the semifinal and I just hope I can keep going.”
Cirstea awaits the winner of the upcoming match between No. 3 seed Coco Gauff and No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva.
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