Romanian tennis player Irina-Camelia Begu gained 305 WTA points and moved up 19 positions in the WTA ranking of the best women tennis players in the world, to number 42, after playing the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, on Sunday, October 19.

Begu, 24, lost the final in Moscow to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but she put up quite a fight. The match ended 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 for Pavlyuchenkova. On her way to the final, Begu managed to beat two of the tournament’s favorites, Russian Ekaterina Makarova (no. 12 WTA) and Czech Lucie Safarova (no. 17 WTA).

Begu’s results in the Moscow tournament brought her the best WTA rank in the last three years. Her best position ever was number 38, in September 2011.

Begu also won two doubles tournaments this year, one in Rio de Janeiro, in February, and one in Seul, in September, and is number 55 in the WTA doubles ranking.

Irina Begu is currently the second highest ranked Romanian tennis player, after tennis star Simona Halep, number 4 WTA. Just one year older than Halep, Begu is part of the new generation of women tennis player in Romania, which also includes Monica Niculescu, number 47 WTA, and Sorana Carstea, number 94.

editor@romania-insider.com