Romanian veteran locks horns with Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic in the round of 32 of the Adelaide International on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old played her last match in 2022 at the WTA 125 event in Bucharest. Cirstea lost in the first round against Simona Waltert. Her best result in 2022 came in the Australian Open. Cirstea managed to reach the fourth round in the first major of the year for only the second time in his career.
She made it to the semifinals in the Istanbul Cup and the Birmingham Classic. In Istanbul, she lost to Veronika Kudermetova while in Birmingham, she was ousted by Zhang Shuai. Cirstea will hope to begin the new season with a positive result against a player she has not faced before.
The 30-year-old has already played two qualifying matches this season against two experienced players in Alison Riske-Amritraj and Storm Sanders. Golubic won both matches in contrasting fashion. While she made light work of Riske-Amritraj, Sanders gave her a hard time. Golubic eventually won the match after dropping the first set.
Golubic had a fine end to 2022. She competed in the WTA 125 event in Rouen and progressed to the finals. She eventually lost to Maryna Zanevska in straight sets. Golubic would like to begin 2023 from where she left 2022.
There is no head-to-head record at the moment between Sorana Cirstea and Viktorija Golubic, as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Viktorija Golubic to win in three sets.
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