Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, suffered her earliest defeat in more than a year as she was toppled in the third round of the Italian Open by the soaring Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea, who brilliantly held her nerve to close out a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 win.
The defeat marks a second successive surprise loss for Sabalenka, who started the clay-court season in some of the best form of her career after consecutive victories at the WTA 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami. Until her quarter-final defeat to Hailey Baptiste at the Madrid Open last week, where Baptiste spectacularly saved six match points, Sabalenka had started the year by winning 26 of her first 27 matches.
This is also the first time Sabalenka has lost before the quarter-final stage at any tournament since February 2025 and she will head to the French Open having failed to reach the semi-final in any clay-court tournament this year. Sabalenka also has fresh injury concerns to address after struggling with a lower back injury in the final stages of the match.
Cirstea, meanwhile, continues to save the best tennis of her entire career for her farewell tour. Cirstea, 36, will retire from professional tennis at the end of this season but she has performed at a consistently high level from the start of the season. Despite being a constant presence near the top of the sport for 17 years, Cirstea has never broken the top 20, peaking at No 21 in 2013. She sits at No 14 in the live WTA Race and this is the first time that Cirstea has ever beaten a No 1 player. She had lost all 12 sets in prior meetings with the No 1 player.
As was the case with Novak Djokovic a day earlier during his surprise three-set defeat to the men’s No 79, Dino Prizmic, this result seemed unlikely early on as Sabalenka rolled through the first set. However, Cirstea recovered impressively, playing with fearless aggression in the final two sets as she controlled the majority of points and forced an erratic Sabalenka behind the baseline.
Down a break at 3-4 in the final set, Sabalenka received a medical timeout on her lower back. Even as she visibly struggled with her back, Sabalenka fought hard and she provided herself with an opportunity to turn the match around, pulling Cirstea back to 5-5 from 3-5 down. Cirstea composed herself and then forced herself back on to the front foot, winning the final two games to close out an enormous victory.
Although tennis players are mandated to participate in a press conference if they are requested by the media, Sabalenka’s back injury meant she simply provided some quick quotes to a WTA representative. “I feel like I didn’t play well from the beginning till the end,” she said. “I started really well, but then I kind of dropped the level. Felt like my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level. She stepped in and played incredible tennis. Didn’t really give me many opportunities. Yeah, that was a tough one. But I guess we never lose; we only learn, so it’s OK.”
Sabalenka said she would use the coming days to address the physical discomfort she struggled with. “I’d say that probably it’s like my lower back, connected to the hip, which was kind of like limiting me from full rotation. I guess we are just going to have some days off. We’re going to spend it on recovery. That’s the plan I believe for now,” she said.
Jannik Sinner began his pursuit of a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title by easing through his second-round match with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Sebastian Ofner of Austria. Sinner, who is also attempting to follow Djokovic by becoming the second man in history to win every Masters 1000 title, had few problems adjusting to slow, heavy conditions at night in front of a packed home crowd.
The men’s No 1 broke Ofner’s serve early in both sets and navigated his service games with ease, facing no break points in the match. He will face either Jakub Mensik or Alexei Popyrin in round three.
Cameron Norrie, meanwhile, believes he is still well positioned for a strong performance at the French Open despite being shocked by his standard of play during Saturday’s frustrating 6-3, 7-5 loss to Thiago Agustín Tirante in the second round of the Italian Open.
Norrie, the British No 1, started the match with a slew of unforced errors, immediately falling 3-0 behind. Those tense early struggles set the tone for a difficult day against one of the most explosive players on the tour. Tirante’s massive first serve consistently scaled 140mph, peaking at 148mph, which the world No 69 backed up by dominating the baseline with his heavy forehand.
Norrie, who had beaten Tirante two weeks ago at the Madrid Open, will next compete at the Geneva Open, which takes place a week before the French Open main draw begins. “I’m feeling so good physically, mentally,” he said. “This loss is just going to make me hungry, I think, but I was shocked with my level because I’ve been playing so well in practice, I can’t prepare better. So I’m excited and ready to play again.
“I would’ve liked to stay here and play and have a chance to win the tournament. I felt my level was there, but it’s OK. I’ll learn from that and next time I’ll be a bit more brave and trust my tennis and trust how well I’m playing.”
