Tennis Spy: Sorana Cirstea

Eurosport - Wed, 05 Aug 09:23:00 2009

This week the Spy takes a look at Romania's Sorana Cirstea, who has been tipped for stardom since her giant-killing antics at Roland Garros in May.

gal TENNIS Sorana Cirstea - 0

Full name: Sorana Mihaela Cirstea

Nationality: Romanian (Born in Targoviste, Romania)

Age: 19 (Born 7 April 1990)

World Ranking: 28

Career highlights: Quarter-finalist at Roland Garros in 2009. Won the Tashkent Open in 2008, her only WTA singles title to date - though she has boxes of ITF trophies gathering dust under the bed. A good doubles player, with WTA titles from Fez and Luxembourg last year. She also reached the final of the high-profile doubles tournament in Barcelona.

General: Found herself splashed all over the back pages for two reasons during her run to the French Open quarter-finals in May. The first was that her progress came at the expense of leading players Alize Cornet, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic; the second, her stunning looks, which made her the ideal poster girl in the absence of injured Maria Sharapova.

Cirstea was a promising junior and has made good progress at the top level - and crucially she already has a first career title under her belt. But she's struggled since her impressive showing in Paris, springing doubts over whether she can make the leap from top 30 to top 10.

Strengths: Tall, elegant and willowy, Cirstea has a neat, controlled style that minimises mistakes. She might not hit for the corners, but then again the unforced error count is always low. Doesn't appear to be fast around the court, but actually is deceptively quick covering the ground with her long strides and good reading of the game.

As you'd expect of a good doubles player she's also a very solid volleyer. But she also has solid groundstrokes. Forehand and backhands are delivered with plenty of zip and punch, whipping through the ball quickly on both sides. Has a great line in disguising her shots: on both sides, she holds the racquet well back until the last minute, making it tough for opponent's to predict which side she's going to play to.

Weaknesses: Cirstea's game is built more around being solid than spectacular - ideal for getting to the later stages of most tournaments, but you wonder if she has the tools to pick up titles on a regular basis. Seems lacking a little when it comes to delivering the final blow: in her third-round defeat to Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon, for example, she dominated the first set but was unable find the crucial points to wrap things up, and lost in a tie-break. Despite her competence at the net, she often seems to lack the confidence to charge in and take control of the point.

Prospects: Cirstea could be huge. What her game lacks appears to stem from her youth rather than any inherent limitations. Her slightly cautious, tentative shotmaking is both a problem in itself and the root cause of her inability to take the initiative.

And it's a problem that stems from a lack of physical strength. Despite her height and build, there's something physically delicate about Cirstea, as if she's yet to grow in to her physique and get the most from herself. It's possible that it'll never happen - but if it does, then she could be major a force on the women's circuit for many years to come.

General: Cirstea is the classic example of what Jane Austen would have referred to as an 'accomplished' woman. As well as being beautiful, rich and talented, she speaks English, Spanish and French, in addition to her native Romanian. She enjoys reading and watching films, is a crossword fanatic and keeps parrots. Loves playing all ball sports, and hitting the shops of New York and London. Describes herself as ambitious, stubborn and happy, and names Steffi Graf as the person she most admires.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

Comment 17 - 36 of 36

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  1. EXTREMELY HOT. WOW
    SHE IS STUNNING

    From Korey S, on Fri 21 Aug 9:55AM

  2. Cirstea is really HOT. Let's face it: He plays good­ and look really nice: sooner or later she will be TOP­ 10.

    From Mihai B, on Fri 7 Aug 10:16AM

  3. LOL Milot S, you re such an expert, Eurosport could­ hire you to help Mr Reed with his awful predictions. If­ Lisicki is so much better than Cirstea how come she was­ literally destroyed by Cirstea? wannkerr

    From Ferrrrrrr, on Fri 7 Aug 10:02AM

  4. She tries to look like Ana Ivanovic ?! HA HA HA ! Ana,­ Elena, and maybe few other classy girls are without­ competition..
    But nevertheless her game is more­ impressive in recent times then Ana`s.. my congrats for­ this important aspect !

    From Igor K, on Thu 6 Aug 1:44PM

  5. Ferrrrr is so right!! x

    From opera.aria, on Thu 6 Aug 12:59PM

  6. yo, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and yet again­ is not necessary to play tennis...

    From Ferrrrrrr, on Thu 6 Aug 11:29AM

  7. you didn't really described the real sorana cirstea­ sorry to tell you(when it comes to her game and­ physical condition)...HAIDE SORANA!!!

    From Alexandru, on Thu 6 Aug 7:48AM

  8. why r some of u talkin bout lisicki..actually sorana­ beat lisicki winning the tashkent open..too easy stop­ crying Sorana is the best.

    From Gaman, on Thu 6 Aug 1:43AM

  9. DUMNEZEU NU DA NICIODATA TALENT SHI FRUMUSETZE.EL­ DORMEA CAND TE-AI NASCUT.
    AZI,ADMIRA SHI BINECUVINTEAZA­ CREATZIA.
    OMAGIILE MELE.cd

    From dorin c, on Wed 5 Aug 11:54PM

  10. she is very nie but not as nice as the likes of Ana­ Ivanovic.

    From sean_jones1990, on Wed 5 Aug 10:35PM

  11. Here we go again - Lisicki is another such player, 19­ and still outside the top 20. It's all very well­ saying if she learns to this and that then she'll­ be great but if she could make those improvents to her­ game then she already would have. 19 IS NOT YOUNG IN­ WOMEN'S TENNIS. These girls are unlikely to pay­ more than a fleeting visit to the top 10. Sorry if­ that's not what their fans want to hear but it is­ unfortunately the truth.

    From Bobito, on Wed 5 Aug 9:44PM

  12. Yeah Lisicki has huge serve and shots-if she reduces­ unforced errors and reduces odd losses against lower­ ranked players she could be top 10 soon.And can play on­ all surfaces.

    From honeybeecro7, on Wed 5 Aug 7:58PM

  13. honeybeecro7-No worry I know And I respect your­ Opinion..Everybody thinks Different..I am a Huge­ Sharapova fan..and I also like the­ "newComers" but I don't think that Sorana­ Cirstea is the "newcomer" to look for..I­ think Sabine Lisicki is more like champion­ Material..Cirstea is good But Lisicki is better..And­ One of the users was Correct..The 8 Womens who have­ slams where in a slam Final by the age of 19..Maria had­ 2 Slams under her Belt when she was 19 and also a slam­ Final at Australian Open..!!

    From Milot S, on Wed 5 Aug 7:22PM

  14. If she hones up her playing skills and develops killer­ instibcts, she will standout with her overall­ personality.

    From Emmveeyem, on Wed 5 Aug 6:44PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    She is 19 years old and ranked 28 in the world. That­ suggests that she is not a serious prospect. The last 8­ women to have won a grand slam singles title had all­ been in a GS final by her age.

    From Bobito, on Wed 5 Aug 6:09PM

  16. honeybee for me the best looking girl on the tour is­ Maria Kirilenko. Its just a pity shes an average tennis­ player but shes better then Kournakova thank god.

    From lopezmaxi92, on Wed 5 Aug 5:59PM

  17. Milot S-calm down please and read my comment again-I­ said that Sorana has a great attitude,I DIDN'T say­ ANYTHING about Sharapova attitude.But if I have to say­ something I agree with you that she does have A GREAT­ attitude,and she is obviously a champion.I am not her­ fan but appreciate her fighting spirit and her results­ and am happy that she is back.
    As far as Sharapova­ looks are concerned I said that everyone has their­ opinion(no right or wrong because it's subjective)­ and that I feel she isn't even the best looking­ player in top 10.I think that Wozniacki and Azarenka­ are better looking(you and others don't have to­ agree-it's subjective thing!I also think­ Cirstea,Ivanovic,Kirilenko, Domachowska,Dulko are­ better looking than Sharapova.But no need for you to­ attack me for thinking that.

    From honeybeecro7, on Wed 5 Aug 5:40PM

  18. Should do well has a good game but needs to be more­ aggresive to beat the top players.She is very pretty so­ that should help her bring in more attention.

    From lopezmaxi92, on Wed 5 Aug 5:34PM

  19. Should do well has a good game but needs to be more­ aggresive to beat the top players.She is very pretty so­ that should help her bring in more attention.

    From lopezmaxi92, on Wed 5 Aug 5:34PM

  20. honeybeecro7-What Ever Everyone Knows that she is­ Hot..NAME me One Other that you think is hotter than­ maria..
    Are you saying that Maria doesn't have­ Attitude..!!Give me a break..

    From Milot S, on Wed 5 Aug 4:50PM
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