Sorana Cirstea’s final season has been filled with memorable moments: a title on home soil in Cluj-Napoca, a doubles crown in Linz last week, and four Top 20 singles wins.
The good times continued for the Romanian in Rouen, France.
Cirstea, who plans to retire at the end of the 2026 season, booked her second semifinal of the year—and notched her 20th win—with a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory over Hungary’s Anna Bondar.
“It was a very tough match. Anna is a great opponent, very tough,” Cirstea said after the win. “I’m very happy with the result. I’m glad I finished in two sets, because that first set, the tiebreak, is always tricky. Again, I’m very happy to be here tonight and to have another opportunity to come back tomorrow.”
Cirstea struck 36 winners against 33 unforced errors and saved four of five break points in the 99-minute contest.
She held an early break advantage in the opening set, but Bondar responded, saving a set point while serving at 5-6 before eventually falling in the tiebreak.
In the second set, Bondar fell behind 2-0 but showed resilience, saving six break points to stay within reach. She earned triple break point at 3-2, but Cirstea reeled off five consecutive points to hold, then pulled away—winning 13 of the final 15 points to seal the match.
The second seed will face Ukrainian qualifier Veronika Podrez in the semifinals.
“The goal is to reach the final and hopefully win, but right now the priority is the next match,” Cirstea said.
In the top half of the draw, top seed Marta Kostyuk will take on Tatjana Maria.
Kostyuk edged fifth seed Ann Li, 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-3, while Maria defeated Iryna Shymanovich, 7-6(5), 6-2.
All four semifinalists are making their tournament debut in Rouen.