Romanian tennis player Irina Bara qualified on Wednesday for the round of 16 of the USD 60,000 ITF tournament in Istanbul after defeating Lina Gjorcheska (North Macedonia) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, write Agerpres.
Bara (28, WTA’s 235th) won after almost two hours of play (1 h 52 min) against the number eight seed (28, WTA’s 241).
The Romanian started well and led 3-0 in the first set, which she then lost 3-6. The situation was reversed in the second act, when Gorjcheska was 2-0 up, but Bara won 6-2. In the decider, the North-Macedonian player had 5-3, but Bara won the last four sets of the match.
The Romanian is now 3-2 in direct games against Gjorcheska.
Irina Bara’s next opponent will be Estonian Maileen Nuudi (22, WTA’s 571st), who came from the qualifiers.
Three other Romanians lost in the first round. Cristina Dinu (30, WTA’s 313th) was defeated by Turkish Ilay Yoruk (21, WTA’s 569th) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, Maria Sara Popa (17, WTA’s 848th), lucky loser, was defeated by Russian Ekaterina Maklakova (19, WTA’s 420th), and on Tuesday, Alexandra Cadantu-Ignatik (32, WTA’s 221st) was eliminated by Turkish Berfu Cengiz (23, WTA’s 299 th), 7-5, 6-3.
