“The time of my life” – At 36 and in her last season, Cirstea beats Paolini for the first time

Sorana Cirstea had lost all three of her previous meetings with Jasmine Paolini. On Friday evening she took the fourth 6-3, 6-2 and reached the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in three years, in what she has said will be her final season on tour.

The Romanian No. 16 seed is playing at a career-high World No. 17, a ranking she first reached in July. In May, after a semi-final in Rome, she became the oldest player in the history of the WTA rankings to make her top-20 debut, at 36. She won a title in Cluj-Napoca earlier this season, beating Emma Raducanu in the final, which made her the oldest player to win a title this year.

She was asked on court whether knowing the end is close has liberated her.

What I can say is I’m having the time of my life. I love tennis and I love to compete. It’s an absolute joy to call tennis my job.

“I don’t know if it freed me up,” Cirstea said. “What I can say is I’m having the time of my life. I love tennis and I love to compete. It’s an absolute joy to call tennis my job.”

Asked what she would tell the 18-year-old who played here in 2008, she answered without hesitating. “I would tell her to have more fun and enjoy. At the end of the day, today is never coming back. It’s been a long career. It’s been a wonderful career. Most important is to enjoy whatever you do every single day, because life goes quick.”

Paolini’s fortnight had already been difficult. The Italian No. 19 seed returned here after time away with a foot injury following her Wimbledon quarter-final, and needed three sets to survive Slovenian Veronika Erjavec in the first round, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, against an opponent who had not won a tour-level match all year. She is now 0-3 against top-20 players in 2026.

Cirstea, who beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-2, 7-5 and Austrian Julia Grabher 6-3, 6-0 to get here, plays the winner between Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed, and Canadian No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez.

US OPEN 2026, women’s singles, round 3

A. Sabalenka [1] d. K. Rakhimova: 6-3, 6-4
T. Townsend vs D. Shnaider [15] – not played
M. Kostyuk [11] d. E. Alexandrova [18]: 6-3, 6-2
A. Li [29] vs L. Noskova [6] – not played
J. Pegula [3] vs L. Fernandez [31] – not played
S. Cirstea [16] d. J. Paolini [19]: 6-3, 6-3
E. Svitolina [9] vs A. Kalinskaya [21] – not played
E. Navarro [26] vs K. Muchova [7] – not played
M. Andreeva [5] vs N. Bartunkova – not played
A. Potapova [24] vs A. Anisimova [10] – not played
I. Jovic [14] vs A. Eala [17] – not played
C. Bucsa vs C. Gauff [4] – not played
I. Swiatek [8] vs M. Bouzkova [25] – not played
M. Keys [22] vs Q. Zheng (Q) – not played
N. Osaka [13] vs E. Mertens [23] – not played
Y. Starodubtseva vs E. Rybakina [2] – not played