Romania's Cirstea stuns British Konta to advance to US Open women's singles round three

Romania's Sorana Cirstea on Thursday pulled out a stunner as she defeated British Johanna Konta 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 thus advancing to round three of the women's singles event at the US Open tennis tournament.

Thirty-year-old Cirstea, world number 77, prevailed in two hours and 49 minutes over ninth-seeded Konta.

World number 13 Konta, 29 clearly won the first set, 6-2, after winning the last four games.

Their only previous meet was won by Konta, in 2017, in the second round at Eastbourne, 6-2 6-2.

Cirstea has now matched her best performance at the US Open, the third round in 2009 and 2019.

For her performance so far, Cirstea won 163,000 US dollars and 130 WTA singles points, and in the next round she will face 30th-seeded Karolina Mucha. It will be her first face-off in the professional circuit against Czech Mucha, 24 years, world number 26, which defeated in the second round Russian Ana Kalinskaya 6-3 7-6 (4). In the first round, Muchova defeated forty-year-old American Venus Williams, 6-3 7-5.