Romanians Halep, Begu and Dulgheru play for Rome quarterfinals

Romanian tennis players Simona Halep, Irina Begu and Alexandra Dulgheru have qualified to the third round (last 16) of the tournament in Rome and will fight today for a place in the quarter finals. Simona Halep, currently second in the WTA ranking of the best women’s tennis players in the world, defeated American Alison Riske in two sets, 6-4, 6-3, on Wednesday. Her next match is against American Venus Williams. If she gets past Williams, she might play against Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarterfinals. Dulgheru, currently 72nd in the WTA ranking, fought past Czech Lucie Safarova in three sets (1-6, 6-4, 7-6) in the second round. She will meet Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova (No. 8 WTA). Irina Begu (No. 34 WTA) is the third Romanian who qualified to the third round of the Rome WTA Premier 5 tournament, after beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in two sets (6-3, 6-3). Her next opponent is Belarussian Victoria Azarenka. The winner of the tournament in Rome will get 900 WTA points and EUR 400,000. Romanians in WTA ranking: Simona Halep keeps position, Irina Begu goes up six places editor@romania-insider.com