Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea on Monday qualified for the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati (Ohio), offering total prize money of 7,433,076 US dollars, after Russian Ana Kalinskaia retired when trailing 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 5-0.

Cirstea (36 of age, WTA's 19), seed no. 15, claimed victory after almost two hours of actual play (1 hour 56 minutes), as the match was interrupted by the rain both after the first set and the second.

The Romanian served 9 aces and committed 5 double faults, while Kalinskaia (27, WTA's 21) committed 5 double faults.

Sorana Cirstea now leads 3-1 in their head-to-head record with Kalinskaia, all of which took place in the United States. The Russian won in 2020 in the qualifying round of the New York tournament (which was relocated to Cincinnati because of the pandemic), 7-5, 6-4, and Cirstea won in 2022, in the third round at the Indian Wells, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0, and a year later at US Open, 6-3, 6-4.

Cirstea has secured a 81,752 US dollars prize cheque and 120 WTA ranking points. In the last 16, she will face American Jessica Pegula, who defeated compatriot Emma Navarro 7-5, 6-2 in the previous round.

Pegula, 32, is ranked third in the world and leads her head-to-head record against Cirstea 2-1. The Romanian won their first encounter in 2011, in the opening round in Midland, Missouri, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. Pegula levelled the record at an ITF tournament in 2015, winning 6-3, 6-3 in the first round, while their most recent meeting came in the opening round in Madrid in 2021, when Pegula prevailed 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Cirstea has withdrawn from the doubles event, where she was due to partner Russia's Mirra Andreeva against the pairing of Italy's Sara Errani and Canada's Leylah Fernandez. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Tenea; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)