Veteran Sorana Cirstea continued a sound start to her 20th and final year on the WTA tour by advancing through the qualifying rounds and into the main draw of the Adelaide International.<\/p>\n
Cirstea, who in December announced that 2026 will be her last season on the circuit, has been in solid touch as she gears up for her 18th and last Australian Open.<\/p>\n
She enjoyed two wins at the Brisbane International, then gave eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka a few early headaches before ultimately succumbing to the world No.1.<\/p>\n
Second seed Cirstea beat Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri in the first round of qualifying round at Memorial Drive punching her ticket into the WTA 500 event with a 7-6(5) 6-3 victory over Kazakhstani Kamilla Rakhimova on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Cirstea was one of three Romanians to secure passage.<\/p>\n
Top seed Jaqueline Cristian was made to sweat early by 17-year-old South Australian Sarah Mildren in a 7-6(4) 6-2 win, before thumping Austrian Anastasia Potapova 6-1 6-3.
Elena-Gabriela Ruse was the other Romanian to get through.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva won both her qualifying matches in straight sets, as did Czech teen Teresa Valentova.<\/p>\n
Valentova, who turns 19 next month, progressed courtesy of a 7-6(2) 6-0 triumph over 41-year-old former world No.2 Vera Zvonareva.<\/p>\n
A two-time semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2009 and 2011, Zvonareva brushed aside speculation that she had quietly retired from tennis when she made the final in Dubai as a wildcard last month – her first competitive hit-out since May 2024.<\/p>\n
Zvonareva, who made her Grand Slam debut way back in 2002 and was ranked second in the world in 2010, started her qualifying campaign with a walkover against German Laura Siegemund, with whom she partnered to take out the US Open 2020 doubles.<\/p>\n
Australian wildcards Mildren, Laquisa Khan, Tori Russell and Emilie Chen all suffered straight-sets defeats in their respective opening-round qualifiers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Queenslander Adam Walton and Sydney’s Aleskander Vukic made successful starts in their bids to earn advancement to the ATP 250 tournament’s main draw, but fellow Australians Jake Delaney, Chris O’Connell and Daniel Jovanovski all fell at the first hurdle of men’s qualifying.<\/p>\n
No.3 seed Walton ousted wildcard Delaney in an all-Aussie nail-biter, 6-2 3-6 7-6(2), while sixth-seeded Aleksander Vukic came from behind to oust Italy’s Luca Nardi.
Vukic will face Great Britain’s second seed Jack Fearnley, who pinched a pair of tense tiebreaks against O’Connell, 7-6(4) 7-6(4)<\/p>\n
Austrian claycourter Filip Misolic downed Jovanovski 7-5 6-4.<\/p>\n
Alexander Shevchenko defeated eighth seed Carlos Taberner in straight sets, while Argentinean outsider Thiago Agustin Tirante upset top seed Jesper de Jong in three.<\/p>\n