The Madrid Open women’s draw could easily be mistaken for the Bucharest Open following the quartet of success by Romanian tennis players.
Four Romanian players reached the quarterfinals in Madrid. Besides sixth seed Simona Halep being the final seed left in the draw, Sorana Cirstea, Patricia Maria Tig and Irina-Camelia Begu also made their way to the last eight of the tournament.The achievement is impressive for a country that has a population of less than 20 million people.
Speaking about the historic achievement, Halep spoke with ubitennis.net about the significance of this week’s performance for her country following her quarterfinal win.
“I think it’s a big thing for our country. Romania is a small country, and four girls to be in the quarterfinals of such a big tournament, it means a lot,” she told ubitennis.net.
There is no need to look further ahead at the moment, instead Halep pleaded with Romanian tennis fans to just enjoy the moment. She has also attributed the strong support that she and her teammates have received in Madrid to the milestone.
“We have to just enjoy it. We have many fans home, and personally I want to thank them because they were supporting and they were nice today on court as well,” an appreciative Halep said.
Fed Cup aspirations
The recent results have reminded the tennis world of how potentially dangerous the Romanian Fed Cup team could be. Despite having four players ranked inside the top-100, the country hasn’t reached the semifinals of the tournament since 1976. This year the country suffered a duo of losses to Fed Cup powerhouses Germany (1-4) and the Czech Republic (2-3).
“Yeah, we can be confident,” Halep said when asked about her country’s Fed Cup chances.
“We always have a good team when we play Fed Cup, we were just unlucky against Germany.”
The player’s position in the rankings doesn’t dictate the success of the nation’s Fed Cup squad. As tennis is an individual sport for the majority of the season, some find it difficult to collaborate as a team on the court. This viewpoint is one that Halep agrees with.
“It’s not easy to play for a team. It’s different than what we do every day,” she concluded.
Halep is so far the only player for her country in the semifinals of the tournament. The world No.7 could play compatriot Tig in the next round if she wins her match against Sam Stosur.
