Jaqueline Cristian (25 years old – 68th WTA rank) defeated the Russian Elina Avanesyan (21 years – 72nd WTA rank) in three sets and qualified for the third round at the Italian Open.
Elina Avanesyan – Jaqueline Cristian 7-5, 2-6, 2-6
Luck continues to smile on the athlete from Romania, after she was initially eliminated by Varvara Gracheva (6-2, 2-6, 3-6) in the last stage of the qualifications.
Later, the Czech Barbora Krejcikova declared a forfeit due to medical problems, so Jaqueline Cristian received the lucky loser status and went directly to the second round of the competition.
The Romanian needed almost three hours to overcome Avanesyan, at the end of a rain-interrupted match at 2-2 in the opening set.
The Russian prevailed in the first set 7-5, after managing two breaks at the end of a fairly balanced act between the two players.
Although he saved three set points, Cristian finally gave up on his debut.
In the second act, the Romanian made no more errors, showing a much more solid game against her opponent. Cristian managed two breaks at 1-3 and 2-6, sending the game to the decider.
The third set was fairly even at the start, with each player managing to win the game when the opponent was on serve. Although he lost the first 2 games on serve, Cristian came back and didn’t give the Russian any more chances and won 6-2.
A fiery match is announced in the next round for Cristian, the Romanian will meet Coco Gauff.
Tags: Jaqueline Cristian takes advantage lucky loser status qualifies Rome
