Cirstea outlasts Navarro in Dubai, makes last eight

Romanian wildcard Sorana Cirstea edged out American Emma Navarro, the No 8 seed, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 to move into the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open at The Aviation Club Tennis Centre on Wednesday evening.

The three hour and two-minute clash was Cirstea’s second win of the day, and it was also Navarro’s second match of the day. Six hours of rain wreaked havoc on the schedule in Dubai on Tuesday and the players were forced to play catchup on a busy Wednesday.

“Today I spent six hours on court,” Cirstea said. “Definitely it was not easy. At some point in the second set my energy dropped, but I knew if I wanted to beat Emma I had to go back to 100 percent.

“Sometimes tennis is brutal, I think it was an amazing match and to be fair I think it’s not fair that someone has to lose this match.”

Cirstea, ranked No 89, will play No 14 seed Karolina Muchova next.

The 34-year-old Romanian won against Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 10 seed (6-1, 6-4) and American qualifier Alycia Parks (3-6, 6-4, 6-1) ahead of her victory.

In the previous round of the Dubai tournament, Navarro, ranked No 9, defeated Swiss Belinda Bencic (7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3).

Dubai WTA 1000, other last 16 results (The Aviation Club Tennis Centre, hard, USD 3.664.963, most recent results first):

• Clara Tauson beat Aryna Sabalenka (1): 6-3, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova beat McCartney Kessler: 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5)
• Mirra Andreeva (12) beat Peyton Stearns: 6-1, 6-1
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Dayana Yastremska: 7-5, 6-0
• Elena Rybakina (6) beat Paula Badosa (9): 4-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2)
• Linda Noskova beat Jessica Pegula (5): 6-3, 7-6 (8)
• Sofia Kenin (WC) beat Jasmine Paolini (4): 6-4, 6-0

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