Australian Open: Laura Siegemund defeats Romania's Irina Begu in a tight three-set match, others lost their first-round matches

Romania is left with no representative in the single category of the 2023 Australian Open after Irina Begu lost to Laura Siegemund in the second round, her fourth consecutive defeat against the German two-time Grand Slam champion.

Begu dominated the first set 7-5, but Siegemund flipped the script and forced to push Begu to overtime, winning 5-7 and 3-6 in the last two sets in a tight game that lasted three hours and 12 minutes.

Previously, Irina Begu was scheduled to play Zheng Saisai but the Chinese athlete withdrew due to a wrist injury. Her replacement in the first round, 21-year-old American Elizabeth Mandlik who made her first WTA win last year, managed to win the first set but Begu came from behind to secure the last two sets.

Other Romanian delegates, Ana Bogdan, Sorana Cîrstea, and Patricia Ţig, have all lost their first-round matches.

Ţig’s return to the Grand Slam competition after 2021 wasn’t a smooth ride – she was eliminated in the first round by Chinese Zhang Shuai in a hard-fought tie 1-6, 6-4, 0-6.

Bogdan, the 63rd in the world ranking, lost to the Hungarian Anna Bondar and fired her French coach Thomas Drouet during the tournament after an incident in the training.

Cîrstea was fined USD 10,000 after violating a Grand Slam rule by refusing interaction with the press, following her shocking 6-2, 4-6, 3-6 loss against Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan.

The better news comes from the doubles, however. Jaqueline Cristian, who partnered up with German Tamara Korpatsch, was defeated in doubles by Romanian-Swiss duo Monica Niculescu and Viktorija Golubic in an easy 6-4, 6-4 match. The latter duo will face the Anna Bondar/Greet Minnen team (Hungary/Belgium) in the next round.

(Photo source: Filedimage | Dreamstime.com)