Last Romanian in Indian Wells tennis tournament loses in two-and-half-hour thriller

After a second round cull at the Indian Wells tennis tournament, the only Romanian player left in the competition has just lost her third round match against number three seed Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland. But it was far from easy for the Pole, with Romania's Sorana Cirstea (in picture) putting up determined resistance and playing some fantastic tennis to take the match to a three set thriller.

Cirstea was the only one of five Romanian women in the BNP Parisbas Open at Indian Wells to win her second round match. Irina-Camila Begu, Monica Niculescu, Simona Halep and Alexandra Dulgheru all lost their round two matches over the weekend, despite in many cases having clear straight sets victories in the first. Number 27 seed Sorana Cirstea dominated in the second round, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6 – 1, 6 – 3. In the third round, Romania's Sorana Cirstea put up a great battle against the number three seed and after winning the first set on tie-break, eventually lost the match 7 – 6, 3 – 6, 4 – 6. “She was playing really good tennis from the beginning until the end. Every set was really tight,” said her opponent Agnieszka Radwanska after the game, which she described as “a really tough match.” Although not one of the Grand Slams, the Indian Wells competition is one of the bigger events on the pro circuit. Unlike many other tournaments it includes a men’s ATP competition and a women’s WTA ranking event. The current venue, The Indian Wells Garden, was built in 2000 at a cost of USD 78 million. It is one of the biggest and, claim the organizers, one of the most impressive venues for tennis in the world. The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells runs between March 4 and 17 this year, featuring men’s and women’s singles and doubles competitions. editor@romania-insider.com photo source: bnpparisbasopen.com