Springfield, Mo. — The Springfield Lasers welcome Sorana Cirstea to the roster this week, making her Mylan World TeamTennis debut by defeating Venus Williams Tuesday in Washington, D.C., and going on to defeat Sloane Stephens in Philadelphia Wednesday.
Cirstea 27, from Romania, will serve out the rest of the season with the Lasers, making her first appearance in Springfield Thursday.
In her very first set of Mylan WTT Tuesday, July 24, Cirstea faced former world No. 1 Venus Williams in a much-hyped marquee appearance with the Washington Kastles. Cirstea took the court in a sold-out match and initially fell behind Williams in women’s singles, 4-1. But after Williams double-faulted, Cirstea rallied and came back to win the set, 5-4. The Lasers later won the match in extended play 23-13. A complete match recap is at SpringfieldLasers.com
Cirstea also held the lead over the Philadelphia Freedoms’ Sloane Stephens Wednesday, July 26, in a matinee match in Philadelphia. Cirstea won the first set of the match, women’s singles, 5-1. The Lasers kept the lead for the rest of the match, winning 22-18 in extended play. More match details are at WTT.com/news
Cirstea is the fourth and final substitute filling a vacancy left when Daria Kasatkina withdrew from the Lasers roster just three days before the season began, due to injury. Cirstea was originally scheduled to play only two matches, but is now serving for seven.
Outside of Mylan WTT, Cirstea made the quarterfinals in Madrid and fourth round at the Australian Open this year. She represented Romania at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She made her Fed Cup debut in 2006 and remains on the Romanian team. She has one singles title and four doubles titles, with a career-high rank of No. 21 in singles (2013) and No. 35 in doubles (2009). She is currently ranked No. 53 in singles.
A complete Lasers line-up is SpringfieldLasers.com
Remaining home matches include:
- Thursday, July 27, v. San Diego Aviators
- Friday, July 28, v. Washington Kastles
- Sunday, July 30, v. Philadelphia Freedoms
- Wednesday, Aug. 2, v. New York Empire
Follow live match updates on Twitter at @SGFLasers and @JKessingerCCHN.
Find a complete schedule, player line-up, news releases and more at SpringfieldLasers.com.
B-roll video of Mylan WTT players is available at WTT.com/media. Contact Jenny Edwards for the password.
The Springfield Lasers were established in 1996 and are one of the oldest teams in the Mylan WTT league. They are managed by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board and play home matches at Cooper Tennis Complex’s Mediacom Tennis Stadium. The Lasers have won the Western Conference Championship five times, making it to the Mylan WTT finals in 2014, 2013, 2009, 2001 and 1999.
For more information on Springfield Lasers, visit SpringfieldLasers.com , or Facebook or Twitter @SGFLasers.
For more information on Mylan World TeamTennis, visit WTT.com
For media inquiries, call Jenny Fillmer Edwards, Public Information Administrator for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, at 417-874-2943 (office) or 417-224-5510 (mobile), or email Jenny Edwards.
Photo by Camerawork USA