Tennis star Cirstea ends her career following defeat

Sorana Cirstea has ended her tennis career following a defeat to Alexandra Shubladze in Hong Kong. The decision had been made some time ago.

Sorana Cirstea has ended her tennis career with a defeat. The 36-year-old Romanian suffered a surprise 2–6, 3–6 defeat in the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Tennis Open against Russian qualifier Alexandra Shubladze. Cirstea had gone into the tournament as the world number 15 and the top seed.

Shubladze got off to the better start and won the first four games. Cirstea failed to capitalise on five break points in the first set and also fell behind early in the second set after conceding a break. Although she managed to level the score at 3–3, the 21-year-old Russian took the next three games to seal victory after one hour and 27 minutes. For Shubladze, ranked 136th in the world, it was her first victory over a top-20 player and her first WTA semi-final.

Cirstea springs a surprise in her farewell season

Cirstea had already announced that 2026 would be her final year on the tour. In her farewell season, she reached her highest world ranking of 15th and won the tournament on home soil in Cluj-Napoca. In Rome, on her way to the semi-finals, she defeated the then world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, after coming back from a set down, winning 2–6, 6–3, 7–5. It was Cirstea’s first victory over a reigning world number one.

In Rome in May, Cirstea had also been asked about her plans to retire. “Everyone told me: ‘You can’t stop, you can’t stop.’ But my decision is final. We’ll see what I can achieve this year, and even if it is my last year: I still have plenty of goals and things I want to improve on, and I go out onto the court every day with a plan.”

Now, following a surprise defeat, her career is over.