Tennis fans and commentators are sending congratulations and condolences after the grand slam career of a fourth player came to an end at the US Open. The curtain had already come down on Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils, and on Sunday night it was Sorana Cirstea.
The Romanian made the Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows, but her campaign came to an end with a 3-6 4-6 loss to third seed Jessica Pegula. It was the final grand slam appearance of Cirstea’s career after she announced at the start of the year that 2026 would be her last before retiring.
Sorana Cirstea played her final grand slam before retiring from professional tennis. Image: US Open/Getty
Remarkably, the 36-year-old is enjoying one of the best years of her 21-year professional career. She made the quarter-finals at the French Open in May and the third round at Wimbledon in July.
She’s currently ranked World No.17 on the WTA tour – the highest mark of her career. The Romanian will finish up with over 600 matches won across her singles career and currently has four WTA titles to her name – including winning the Transylvania Open in Romania in February.
Tennis world pays tribite to retiring stars
She made the quarter-finals at the US Open in 2023 and was given a warm farewell on Sunday night. The US Open account wrote on social media: “Congratulations on a great career in New York and best of luck the remainder of the year.”
The ‘Tennis Letter’ account wrote: “It’s been an unbelievable year for her. 36 years old and having one of the best seasons of her career. Going to miss watching her play… but the year’s not over yet.”
Sorana Cirstea and Jessica Pegula embrace at the net after the fourth round match at the US Open. (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images)
Pegula paid tribute to Cirstea on court after the match, saying: “I have a lot of respect for her. She’s such a great competitor. Kind of the utmost professional I feel like.
“I’ve known her for quite a while. We actually hadn’t played in a while up until the last few weeks. They were two really tough matches. I know it seemed like whatever, somewhat straightforward. But that was a battle. It was definitely really intense.”
Cirstea became the fourth player farewelled from grand slam tennis at this year’s US Open. Nishikori fell at the final hurdle in qualifying, while Wawrinka lost in the first round and Monfils bowed out in the second.
In other results on Sunday (local time), Aryna Sabalenka, Linda Noskova and Emma Navarro advanced to the quarters with wins over Taylor Townsend, Marta Kostyuk and Anna Kalinskaya. On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz, Alex Michelsen, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton beat Tommy Paul, Tomás Martín Etcheverry, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively.