Sorana Cirstea Maintains Her Stance of Retiring at the End of 2026 After Roland Garros Exit

36-year-old Sorana Cirstea might be at the twilight of her career, but her form this season has been sensational and could give young players a run for their money.

Cirstea won her fourth career singles title this year in her home tournament, Transylvannia Open, and did so without dropping a set. The Romanian’s clay-court swing has been even more impressive.

Although Cirstea lost in the singles quarterfinals in Linz to top seed and eventual champion Mirra Andreeva, in doubles, she partnered with Zhang Shuai to clinch her seventh career doubles title.

At the Italian Open, she reached the semifinal of the tournament for the first time in her career. In Rome, she came back from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka, becoming the oldest women’s player in the Open Era to record her first-ever career win over a World No. 1.

Following her Rome campaign, Cirstea also became the oldest player to make her Top 20 debut in WTA rankings history. Despite her great form, Cirstea is firm on her decision to retire by the end of the season and defended this stance during her Roland Garros press conference after her quarterfinal exit:

Yes, I’m thinking about this – nothing changed my mind. I’m just very grateful for how the year is going and the way I’m playing. Again, overall it was a very solid tournament, but today I felt the conditions were very, very slow. I wasn’t able to hurt her with anything, and she really played very, very good. I think my level was a little bit low and her level very, very high – this is where you get the difference.

At the 2026 Roland Garros, Cirstea reached her first quarterfinal in 17 years at the event and the third singles Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career. With her third-round win over Solana Sierra, Cirstea also became the oldest woman in the Open Era to claim a double bagel victory in a singles Grand Slam main-draw match, overtaking Victoria Azarenka from last year.

It has been a season full of surprising ‘oldest player’ records for Cirstea, and it will be interesting to see how she performs in the rest of her final season.

Sorana Cirstea speaks about what she is proudest of in her career

Two years after reaching her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva
is back in the semifinal of a Grand Slam for the second time in her career after a straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea at Roland Garros.

Andreeva cruised past Cirstea 6-0, 6-3 in 56 minutes to book a semifinal against Marta Kostyuk. This marks a rematch of this year’s Madrid Open final, where the Ukrainian defeated Andreeva in straight sets to win her first WTA 1000 title.

Furthermore, Kostyuk is on a 17-match win streak on clay, with two titles on the surface this season, which makes it a tough challenge for Andreeva. Following her loss to Andreeva, Cirstea also spoke about what she is proudest of in her career:

I think the longevity of my career is one of the things I’m the most proud of. I never expected that, to be honest. And also the way I worked, as a player but also as a person, through these years in tennis – because I feel like this world has taught me so much. I’m just very blessed and very grateful, and these are things I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. No matter which area I go into after my tennis career, I will always cherish the sport and stay close to it.

Cirstea made her professional tennis debut in 2006. Outside her three Grand Slam quarterfinals, her greatest achievements include reaching a WTA 1000 singles final at the 2013 Canadian Open, where she lost to Serena Williams, and winning the 2025 Madrid Open doubles title with Anna Kalinskaya. Cirstea has reached the semifinals of a further three WTA 1000 events in singles and is currently at a career-high singles ranking of 18.

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