Sorana Cirstea insists she isn’t making any U-turn on her retirement plans at the moment after moving into the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The 36-year-old Tour veteran dismissed China’s Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6(4) as she continued to race through the Roland Garros draw. Cirstea dropped seven games in her first two matches before thrashing Solana Sierra 6-0, 6-0 in the third round. In her latest match against Wang, the Romanian survived her biggest test yet, especially in the second set when she lost a 5-2 lead before prevailing in the tiebreaker.
It is the second time Cirstea has reached the last eight in Paris after 2009 in what is a new record for biggest gap between the first two quarter-final appearances at a major event by a female player in the Open Era. She is also the third-oldest Women’s Singles quarter-finalist at Roland Garros in the Open Era.
“I think back then (in 2009) I was a kid, just started on tour. I didn’t know too much about what was happening. I was just playing, and I was just at the beginning of my career,” Cirstea reflected in her press conference.
“Now I have so many years behind me. I have so much experience and maturity. I feel I’m a completely different player.
“But at the same time it’s very beautiful. I’m very grateful for everything that’s happening. I’m very happy to see the way I evolved as a player in all these years.”
Last December, Cirstea confirmed that 2026 would be her last season on the Tour. Since that announcement, she has enjoyed a resurgence in her form by winning the Transylvania Open, stunning Aryna Sabalenka at the Italian Open, and is now enjoying one of her best runs at a major event. She is currently ranked 18th in the world, which is her career high.
“This year it’s going way better than I expected. I came into my last year, wanted to go out on the front door of the sport, wanting to really do well, but I didn’t really think it was going to go that well.” She said.
“The last couple of years I realized how much I love this sport. I’m also working hard, but also having fun. Of course, I’m a competitor. I want to win every single match, but at the same time I’m not putting as much pressure (on herself).”
Could this surge in success contribute to Cirstea reconsidering her plans to stop playing at the end of the year?
“At the moment, the decision hasn’t changed,” she states.
“I haven’t really thought about it. I’m just trying to take it week by week, and I’m not going to do anything different. I’m not going to try now to change things or put any pressure. Of course, we will assess things as we go, but at the moment the decision is the same.”
Cirstea is currently playing in her 67th Grand Slam main draw.
