Sorana Cirstea kept her Paris run rolling on May 31, 2026, beating qualifier Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 to reach the Roland Garros semifinals and move within one win of a first major final four. At 36 and in her final pro season, the 18th seed has gone through the tournament without dropping a set.
That is the kind of turn she came to Paris for, especially after years in which cirstea tennis meant flashes of danger without the consistency to back them up. Cirstea had won only one match in her last three appearances in Paris before this run, and she had failed to survive the French Open second round in eight of her previous nine visits there. Now she has turned a difficult record around on the biggest clay stage in the sport.
The win also stretches a season that has already moved beyond expectations. Cirstea reached semifinals in Rouen and Rome before arriving at Roland Garros, and in Rome she beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Paris has brought the most complete version of her game yet, with Cirstea saying that after surgery two years ago she started to find her best form slowly after Wimbledon last year and can now reach at least a 7 out of 10 level every match.
That matters because the old version of her career had a different rhythm. Cirstea said she was often an up-and-down player, even though she knew she could trouble anyone and belong among the top 10. She said she was grateful to see how much she has evolved since making the Roland Garros last eight in 2009, when her run ended in a loss to Samantha Stosur after she was still early in her career and figuring things out.
She is not there yet, though she is close. Cirstea will play either Mirra Andreeva or Jil Teichmann for a place in the final, and the question now is whether the most consistent clay stretch of her career can carry her into her first major semifinal.
