Simona Halep, defeated in second round of US Open, Sorana Cirstea through to 3rd round

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, #4 WTA, was defeated by American Taylor Townsend by 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), on Thursday, in New York, in the second round of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, while Sorana Cirstea qualified for the third round. Halep (27 years old), the reigning champion at Wimbledon, had a surprising loss against a competitor coming from the qualifying rounds, being dominated by Townsend (23 years old, #116 WTA) in the final two rounds. Halep, who at the previous two editions lost in the first round, will receive a check worth 100,000 dollars and 70 WTA points. Cirstea (29 years old, #106 WTA), defeated Spaniard Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov (21 years old, #100 WTA) in the second round by 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, after two hours and 10 minutes. Cirstea thus managed her best result in a Grand Slam in the past two years, equalizing her best performance at Flushing Meadows of 2009. Sorana Cirstea ensured for herself a check worth 163,000 dollars and 130 WTA points, and is set to play for the first time against Taylor Townsend in the third round.AGERPRES(RO - editor: Mihai Tenea; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Maria Voican)