Romanian Gabriela Ruse fought as hard as she could against powerful and talented Chinese Xiyu Wang in round 2 at Transylvania Open. Ruse came back after losing the first set, and saved two match points, but eventually lost a marathon match of more than 3 hours and 20 minutes.
It was 6-1, 6-7(10), 7-6(6) for Wang, who is having her best season so far – which includes wins over Sakkari, Azarenka, and Krejcikova, but also four ITF finals.
No. 7 seed Xiyu Wang had ousted Jaqueline Cristian in round 1, displaying an impressive game level: powerful shots, well-constructed points, and a tempered aggressiveness. She did the same today, with long shots and a hard-to-return serve.
Wang won rapidly the first set before Gabi had time to make her way into the match. The Romanian recovered in set two; she started to reading better Wang’s serve, and to return with longer shots, sometimes into her opponent’s legs. These tactics helped her to win the tiebreak which ended a 90-minute long set.
The decider was even harder to bear with, in terms of tension: we witnessed some fantastic points, long rallies, and a lot of upheavals. Wang served for the match at 5-3, Gabi came back once more, and saved a match point in game 10, another one in the tiebreak, but eventually lost to a more courageous and inspired Xiyu Wang.
The Chinese player will meet Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in the quarterfinals.
She made it! Xiyu Wang survives an inspired fight of Gabriela Ruse and wins an incredible 3 hours 25’ marathon, 6-1, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6).
What a battle from both players! 👏🏻#TO2022 pic.twitter.com/I8Vp37lc2x
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) October 13, 2022
