Romanian No. 26 seed Sorana Cirstea, in the final season of her 20-year career, upset world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the third round of the Rome WTA 1000, taking down the top seed in two hours and 13 minutes on Campo Centrale to deliver the second major shock of the day on the Italian Open’s main court.
Sabalenka, the 27-2 leader of the year-end race and a three-time titlist already in 2026, looked in complete control of the opening set and built a 6-2, 2-0 lead.
From there the match turned. The Belarusian, never at home on European red clay and visibly unhappy with the bounces on Campo Centrale, began missing the targets her power has hammered all season. The errors mounted; the body language darkened. Cirstea, by contrast, grew calmer and more accurate as the match wore on, breaking for 3-2 in the second set and levelling the contest.
Two breaks in the third for Cirstea
The third set turned on a sequence of breaks. Cirstea broke at 2-2 to lead 3-2, only for Sabalenka to break back from 5-4 down.
Sabalenka had taken a medical timeout at 4-3, lying on her back to have her left leg worked on by the physio before turning over to have her back manipulated. She returned and broke back at the first opportunity with a forehand cross-court that cleaned the line.
The Romanian held her nerve. She broke again at 5-5 to serve for the match a second time and converted on the first match point with a winning serve, sealing her first top-10 victory in 14 months. Her last had come over Emma Navarro at Dubai in February 2026 ; she had gone 0-7 against the top 10 since.
She might not retire… is she wins Rome
Cirstea, who announced before the season that 2026 would be her last on tour, will face Madison Keys in the round of 16. She joked to the crowd that she might rethink retirement if she lifted the trophy.
Cirstea, at 36 years and 28 days, became the oldest player since the WTA rankings began in 1975 to beat a world No. 1 on clay, the oldest to come from behind against one, and the oldest to claim a maiden win over one — three records, all in a single afternoon.
She’s the fifth-oldest player to defeat the WTA number 1 after Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.
For Sabalenka, this is the second straight Masters 1000 in which her clay campaign has ended early. She fell to Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open quarter-finals last week and has now failed to win a title on the surface before Roland-Garros. The Sunshine Double champion has not been the same player since the dirt arrived.
The defeat is the second on Campo Centrale on Saturday, after defending champion Jasmine Paolini was eliminated earlier in the day by Elise Mertens.
Aryna Sabalenka, Rome 2026 | © Madrid Trophy Promotion