Bro, what can I tell you! Sorana Cîrstea, our girl, is doing us proud at Roland Garros. She stormed into the third round after giving Eva Lys a tennis lesson: 6-3, 6-0, she won 11 games in a row, man! No joke, at one point I was looking at the score and I was like, damn, this is a perfect match, just like she says. And she's right, from 3-1 she started playing like a dream - she opened up the court, played higher, did whatever she wanted with her. Man, what a beating Lys took, poor thing, it was like she was playing against a robot.
Now, the next opponent is Solana Sierra, a 21-year-old Argentine, ranked 68th in the WTA. And check this out, this girl pulled off a surprise: she beat Jasmine Paolini, the 13th seed. Sorana says she's not surprised because she played her last year at the US Open and knows she's aggressive. On paper it looks like an easier match, but in tennis, bro, nothing is easy. Especially since Sierra is in form on clay, she had good results in Madrid too. I say Sorana needs to be careful, not get too cocky, because that's what we Romanians do: we boast and then we end up with bagels.
I really liked what Sorana said in the interview: that she wants to retire through the front door, with a smile on her face. She said she doesn't want to leave because her ranking dropped or she got injured - she wants to go out while she's at the top. And look, at 36 she's in the top 20, won her first title at home in Cluj-Napoca, beat the world number 1 in Madrid. It's crazy, bro! When I think that I keep putting off taking my kids to tennis because it's expensive, but look, if you work hard, you can go far. Sorana is living proof that Romanians, when they want to, can do it.
And what I also liked: she talked about the balance between ambition and joy. She says now she puts emotions aside and enjoys more. I think that's the key, bro. With so many players we see wither under pressure, Sorana plays like she has no worries. And she has the support of her father and coach Marius Comănescu, whom she considers family. That's how it should be, a man is a man when he's with his people.
The match against Sierra is on Friday, May 29, around 2:00 PM. I'm going to watch it with the boys at Fane's terrace, because it's a day for football and tennis. Come on, Sorana, show them that Romanian women don't give up! Because we're here, keeping our fingers crossed and drinking a beer in your honor!
