The match could have tilted there. It did not. From 30-30 in that seventh game, Cirstea won 11 of the next 13 to take a one-set lead and a stranglehold on the second.<\/p>\n
Efremova took the lead because she was aggressive from the first ball, particularly on return. But as soon as Cirstea found her own speed and depth, the rallies turned and Efremova was forced onto the defensive. Her offensive choices lost clarity \u2013 she kept attacking, but without real opportunities to attack on, feeling obliged to because Cirstea was winning almost every point once she had taken control of the rally.<\/p>\n
The veteran was clear-eyed about the level her opponent had brought. \u201cI think she\u2019s a great player already,\u201d Cirstea said afterwards. \u201cPlaying at a very high level. She started very very strong. I felt today I really had to bring my best form in order to win. I\u2019m sure she\u2019s going to have a great career.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Romanian arrived in Paris on the back of the best fortnight of her resurgent final season. Two weeks earlier in Rome<\/a>, the 36-year-old had recovered from 6-2, 2-0 down to beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the third round \u2013 her first career win over a world No. 1, at the 20th attempt \u2013 and gone on to reach the semi-finals.<\/p>\n The win on Sunday was her 11th WTA main-draw victory on clay in 2026, equalling her career-best for a calendar year on the surface, set in 2021<\/a>. She has won nine of her last 11 matches, and Sunday delivered her first Roland-Garros main-draw win since 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n Efremova reflects on her Grand Slam debut<\/p>\n For Efremova, born in Moscow but representing France since her family\u2019s move to the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, the loss closes a remarkable first chapter. She came in ranked No. 623 in the world.<\/p>\n Sunday was her first main-draw match on the women\u2019s tour and her first Grand Slam main draw. She was, by her own description afterwards, the architect of the moment the contest turned. \u201cI was 3-1, and then 3-2 with a ball for 4-2,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter that I dropped just a little \u2013 maybe 5 per cent in how hard I was hitting the ball. And against a player with that much experience, she came back easily. That 5 per cent was enough for her to take it back.\u201d<\/p>\n Efremova refused to read the scoreline as a verdict on the gap. \u201cEven if the final score was 6-3, 6-1, honestly, I don\u2019t think I was that far. It\u2019s still experience, and you have to learn.\u201d Her closing reflection was about the experience itself, on a court she had practised on for days with the Paris rain forcing her indoors.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying in front of the crowd was cool. I really enjoyed it. They were behind me, I\u2019d been waiting for a long time for this. It was also my first match in the pros. You have to enjoy these moments too. I hope I\u2019ll play Roland-Garros plenty more times in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Cirstea, who has said before the season that 2026 would be her last, moves into the second round with the air of a player not quite ready to leave. She will face the winner of the match Lys vs. Marcenko.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s Singles \u2013 Sunday, May 24, 2026<\/p>\n \u2022 Court Philippe-Chatrier<\/p>\n B.Bencic (11) \u2013 S.Kraus (Q): 6-2, 6-3<\/p>\n M.Andreeva (8) \u2013 F.Ferro (W): 6-3, 6-3<\/p>\n \u2022 Court Suzanne-Lenglen<\/p>\n H.Baptiste (26) \u2013 B.Krejcikova: 6\u2077-7\u2079, 7\u2078-6\u2076, 6-2<\/p>\n S.Cirstea (18) \u2013 K.Efremova (W): 6-3, 6-1<\/p>\n \u2022 Court Simonne-Mathieu<\/p>\n M.Kostyuk (15) \u2013 O.Selekhmeteva: 6-2, 6-3<\/p>\n K.Volynets \u2013 C.Burel (W): 6-3, 6-1<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 14<\/p>\n F.Jones \u2013 B.Haddad Maia: 1-6, 7\u2077-6\u2074, 6-2<\/p>\n P.Stearns \u2013 S.Kenin: 6-3, 6-3<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 7<\/p>\n C.Mcnally \u2013 A.Tomljanovic: 3-6, 7\u2077-6\u2075, 6-3<\/p>\n M.Linette \u2013 T.Valentova: 5-7, 6-4, 7\u00b9\u00b9-6\u2079<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 6<\/p>\n M.Bouzkova (27) \u2013 L.Bronzetti (Q): 6-3, 6-1<\/p>\n S.Bejlek \u2013 S.Stephens (Q): 6-3, 6-2<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 8<\/p>\n X.Wang (Q) \u2013 D.Kovinic: 6-3, 6-1<\/p>\n T.Korpatsch \u2013 S.Sorribes Tormo: 6-4, 6-2<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 9<\/p>\n X.Wang (32) \u2013 L.Tagger: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4<\/p>\n Y.Starodubtseva \u2013 A.Blinkova: 6-3, 6-1<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 12<\/p>\n M.Frech \u2013 EG.Ruse: 7\u2077-6\u2075, 2-1 (Ab.)<\/p>\n D.Snigur \u2013 C.Tauson (21): 3-6, 7-5, 6-2<\/p>\n \u2022 Court 13<\/p>\n S.Sierra \u2013 E.Raducanu: 6-0, 7\u2077-6\u2074<\/p>\n M.Bassols Ribera (Q) \u2013 E.Arango: 6-3, 6-4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sorana Cirstea (No 18) beat 17-year-old French wild card Ksenia Efremova 6-3, 6-1 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, a meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-602173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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