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Sorana Cirstea added another upset to Day Three of the US Open. The Romanian played tough against the ninth seeded Johanna Konta and went three sets to win 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 on Court 17 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
The two met once back in Eastbourne where the Brit had the advantage and dominated the Romanian on grass. Despite not getting a chance to play on her favorite surface, Konta’s comfort on the hard courts paid off well of recent, including a victory against Heather Watson in the first round. Cirstea battled against Christina McHale but held her to straight sets. With a chance to even the series against the ninth seed, Cirstea would require a big push and keep the Brit in her rearview mirror.
On serve, Cirstea attempted to secure the opening game but a point from Konta forced the two to deuce. They went on through three breaks with the Brit succeeding with breakpoint attempts until the third earned her the lead. She consolidated it with a hold in the second but a streak larger than two was denied by the Romanian. She got on the board and broke back Konta to level after the fourth. The tenth seed answered with another break before going up 4-2.
The double for the Brit came in the seventh locking down every breakpoint to serve for the set. Reaching double set point, the 29-year-old let one go but held her last opportunity to close the first in 38 minutes. Relying heavily on the first serve was Konta’s first serve that saw her win more than 80 percent of points. Cirstea had three double faults that helped the tenth seed carry momentum going toward the finish.
Cirstea got the ball rolling in the second set and despite being broken in the third, she led Konta going forward. The tenth seed leveled the score each time the Romanian took the lead up to the eighth. The ninth was a critical moment for the 30-year-old to hang on to her service and pressure Konta. The Brit had breakpoint but couldn’t convert the win to them. Cirstea forced deuce, saving another one and soon managed a 5-4 lead.
Konta didn’t let anything get in her way and produced a serve to love in the tenth but push the second set deep. That was exactly what occurred in the 11th as Cirstea and Konta got into a battle for control. The Romanian had the chance to go up 6-5, but the tenth seed struck back to force deuce. Konta had two chances to break but the 30-year-old delivered on gaining the AD point after five breaks to lead 6-5.
The British number one served for a chance at a tiebreak and only giving up a point to Cirstea, she clinched the chance to maintain a two-set match. The Romanian caught a mini break on the Brit and suddenly had a 4-2 gap in her favor. Another minibreak went to Cirstea who then had set point. Konta saved three but making the complete comeback was not in the cards. The Romanian ended things in one hour and nine minutes to force a decider.
Just when it looked like Konta was going to speed away, she found herself seeing that Cirstea wasn’t messing around. After each held serve, she broke Konta before being broken back. The fifth was just another fight but in the end, Konta held on to take the lead 3-2. The Romanian stabilized her game to remain on serve with the Brit but it was still and uphill battle. Cirstea dug in with Konta in the seventh as a double break chance came for her but was stopped and went to deuce. The Romanian gained two break points early but erred giving the Brit a shot at holding. On the fifth break point, Cirstea reached her sixth break point and took a 4-3 lead on the winner.
Consolidating on serve made her efforts build confidence that she had the chance for an upset. Konta got within two but as soon as the Romanian returned to service, her power dominated with a serve to love ending a 2 hour and 52-minute marathon that advanced her to the second round for a fourth year in a row.
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