Cîrstea's career ends in Hong Kong as qualifier Shubladze stuns top seed

Sorana Cîrstea's professional career is over. The 36-year-old Romanian was top seed at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, and she lost 6-2, 6-3 in Friday's quarter-finals to Russian qualifier Alexandra Shubladze. The match took one hour and 27 minutes. Cîrstea had said in December 2025 that 2026 would be her last season, and the South China Morning Post reports that she confirmed her retirement after the defeat.

A one-sided farewell

The world No. 15 never found her rhythm against an opponent ranked 136th. Shubladze, 21, broke serve five times and saved seven of the eight break points she faced. She won 14 of her 19 second-serve points. Cîrstea won only four of 18 on her own second serve, according to Tennis Majors.

Cîrstea's week had begun with a hard-fought 7-6(6), 1-6, 7-5 win over Maria Timofeeva, followed by a 7-5, 6-1 victory against Mary Stoiana. Shubladze has had a longer run. She came through qualifying with wins over Ying Zhang and Emerson Jones, then beat Liudmila Samsonova in the first round and came from a set down against Elena Pridankina.

The best season saved for last

Cîrstea turned pro in 2006, and her final year was arguably the best of her career. She won the Transylvania Open on home soil, her fourth WTA singles title. Romanian outlet Digisport lists the others as Tashkent (2008), Istanbul (2021) and Cleveland (2025). She also reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, where she lost to eventual champion Mirra Andreeva. On September 14, after a run into the second week of the US Open, she climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 15.

The season also brought what was reported as her first career win over a reigning world No. 1, against Aryna Sabalenka at the Italian Open. That made her the oldest woman in the Open Era to get such a first win. The run of results made her think again: she admitted she had begun to have doubts about retiring after reaching No. 15, but she stuck to her plan.

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Before this year, her career highlights included a Roland Garros quarter-final in 2009, a WTA 1000 final in Toronto in 2013, and a quarter-final at the US Open and a semi-final in Miami in 2023. She also won seven WTA doubles titles.

Hong Kong semi-finals set

Shubladze, who has now won six matches in Hong Kong including qualifying, faces American Claire Liu, who beat Zeynep Sonmez 6-1, 6-4. The two have never met on tour. In the other half, fourth seed Maria Sakkari beat qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-3 and plays second seed Alexandra Eala, who survived rain delays and a fightback from Antonia Ruzic to reach the last four. A win would put Sakkari into her first final of the season.