Aryna Sabalenka was playing with ease at the onset of her third-round match against Sorana Cirstea at the 2026 Rome Masters. Her opponent is capable of good groundstrokes, but Sabalenka's power was seemingly far too great for Cirstea. The match was trending toward being a short one.
It wouldn't be so easy. After taking the first set 6-2, Sabalenka jumped ahead 2-0 in the second set. The troubles started there.
Cirstea, in the final year of her career but playing some of the best tennis of her life, ticked up in form, began landing forehands that she wasn't earlier in the match, at least on Sabalenka's serve. After getting back to even at 2-all but breaking the Belarusian, the Romanian was then broken again.
Sorana Cirstea shocks Aryna Sabalenka at the 2026 Italian Open
One might have assumed that the previous break was simply a blip for Sabalenka, but it wasn't. She was broken yet again, and then Cirstea held to get to 4-3. Stunningly, she then broke the top-seed yet again, doing so with ease in most of the games, before holding to even the match. Cirstea won set two 6-3.
The two players had met three times before, with Sabalenka winning the last two in straight sets. Cirstea did have a bit of confidence entering the match, though. She had beaten the Belarusian at the Miami Masters in 2023. Her belief was definitely helping as the Italian Open match unfolded.
What was even more surprising was that Aryna Sabalenka landed 78 percent of her first serves in the second set, but was losing points off of them. She normally dominates in that aspect, so she had to be at a bit of a loss for what was happening.
To start the third set, Sabalenka was broken yet again. She was able to get the break back to get to 2-all, but then Cirstea got yet another break. The Romanian was hitting with more power, getting to more balls, and was playing as if she were the WTA No. 1 and not Sabalenka.
The Belarusian was able to hold serve to get back to 3-4, and she had called a physio in between games. What was ailing her was unclear, but her play certainly wasn't in her top form, so she might have been struggling with an injury that wasn't obvious. The issue appeared to be a hip or lower back problem.
What was clear was that no matter if Sabalenka was injured or not, Cirstea was playing better at that point in the match. She proved this by dominating her next service game and taking a 5-3 lead. Sabalenka then held and proved why she is likely the long-term WTA No. 1 and so difficult to defeat.
Cirstea cut the break between games short and raced out to serve. She made a couple of critical errors on forehands, however, and Sabalenka got the break to even the set at 5-all.
Yet, for the sixth time in the match, Cirstea broke Sabalenka in the next game. She had a chance to serve out the match one more time. This time, she would push through to take set three 7-5 and get her first-ever win against a WTA No. 1.
Sorana Cirstea will next play Linda Noskova in the round of 16. The Italian Open will have a new champion in 2026, at least. 2025 winner Jasmine Paolini lost to Elise Mertens in the third round.
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