Ukrainian stuns tournament favorite and creates Transylvania Open shock
Daria Snihur (photo: facebook.com/UkrainianTennisFederation)
Ukrainian tennis player Daria Snihur delivered a phenomenal performance at the WTA 250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca. In the second-round match, the Kyiv native left no chance for the home favorite, Jaqueline Cristian, according to the match results.
Triumphant return to the top eight
Daria Snigur (WTA 144) is once again making her mark on the big stage.
By defeating Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, the Ukrainian reached the quarterfinals of a WTA tournament for the first time since October 2023.
Symbolically, this success came on the same courts in Cluj-Napoca where Daria had reached the same stage three seasons ago.
The match against the tournament’s second seed, ranked 35th in the world, turned into a true showcase for Snihur.
The Ukrainian dominated throughout the encounter, which lasted only 55 minutes.
The final score, 6–1, 6–0, clearly demonstrates her complete superiority.
Match statistics and tournament path
During the match, Snihur displayed high efficiency, converting 7 break points.
Interestingly, Cristian was unable to hold serve at any point in the match and committed 6 double faults.
For Daria, this victory marked her fifth career win against a top-50-ranked player.
Snihur’s path through the tournament
Snihur began her campaign in Romania in the qualifying rounds, defeating Anhelina Kalinina and Spain’s Aliona Bolsova.
In the first round of the main draw, the Kyiv native beat France’s Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
The match against Cristian was the first head-to-head encounter between the two players.
Upcoming challenges and Ukrainian representation
In the quarterfinals, Snihur will face China’s Yue Yuan (WTA 130). The two players have never met at the professional level before.
Snihur is not the only Ukrainian still competing in Romania.
Oleksandra Oliynykova also reached the quarterfinals, defeating Mayar Sherif and Anna Bondar.
Since the Ukrainian players are in opposite halves of the draw, a head-to-head encounter between them is only possible in the Transylvania Open final.
Earlier, we reported that another Ukrainian, Dayana Yastremska, suffered a heavy defeat against a Russian opponent at the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi.
Also, check out the updated WTA rankings, where Elina Svitolina has returned to the world’s top 10 for the first time in four years.
