STARNBERG, December 12, 2020
Sorana Cirstea is the champion of the 23rd Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, an ITF World Tennis Tour W100 event, held at the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort and Spa in Dubai. The World No. 86 from Romania outlasted No. 5 seed Katerina Siniakova from the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday’s singles final.
Cirstea dug in deep when it mattered most, won 56 per cent of her first-service points and converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities to secure victory in two hours and two minutes.
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“It’s been an absolute privilege to play tennis in such tough and testing times. It’s been a great week for me and hopefully I will be back to defend my title here next year,” Cirstea said, quoted by Gulf News.
The 30-year-old Bucharest native has lifted her ninth trophy on the ITF Pro Circuit, winning her first title since 2016. Cirstea took away from the United Arab Emirates $15,239 in prize money as well as 150 WTA Ranking points.
Raina/Gorgodze take doubles title
Earlier in the day, India’s Ankita Raina teamed up with Ekaterine Gorgodze of Georgia to to get the better of Aliona Zadoinov Bolsova from Spain and Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 and pick up the doubles crown.
“It’s been an unreal week. We were the last ones to enter the doubles, and here we are with the winners’ trophy in what I consider to be my home event,” Raina said.
