Spotlight On ... Sorana Cirstea

She isn't a new name to the WTA Tour as such, but Sorana Cirstea caused a notable upset at Roland Garros yesterday when she defeated Jelena Jankovic in three sets. The Romanian is currently ranked # 41, but looks set to better her career-high ranking of # 36 when Roland Garros is over.

Sorana's 2009 season got off to a shaky start with early exits in Syndey (l. to 2nd seed Dinara Safina), the Australian Open (l. to Melinda Czink), Paris (l. to Nathalie Dechy), Dubai (l. to 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova), Indian Wells (l. to Elena Vesnina) and Miami (l. to Mariya Koryttseva). Things picked up in April with a semi-final in Marbella (l. to 5th seed Carla Suarez Navarro, but beat 3rd seed Kaia Kanepi in the quarter-finals). That result was followed by a quarter-final appearance in Estoril (l. to Yanina Wickmayer). Roland Garros became her real break-through tournament though as it was the first time in her career that she has reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam. The win over Jankovic was her second consecutive win over a top 10 player after Caroline Wozniacki was dispatched in the previous round.