Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian incredibly defeated Frenchwoman Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-5, on Tuesday evening, in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen (France), with total prizes of 246,388 euros.
After losing the first set to a lower-ranked player (20 years old, no. 135 in WTA), the Romanian made a spectacular comeback and won after two hours and 47 minutes.
Jaqueline Cristian (aged 27, no. 33rd in WTA), the third seed, was down 5-3 in the second set, saved three match points and sent the set to a tiebreak, where she saved another match point, 5-6, and then prevailed 8-6. In the decider, the Frenchwoman led 4-0 and 5-2, but Cristian won five games in a row and won 7-5.
The two players also faced each other last year in Rouen, in the round of 16, and Rakotomanga Rajaonah won 6-2, 6-3.
Jaqueline Cristian secured a cheque for 4,285 euros and 30 WTA points, and in the round of 16 she will face Katie Boulter (aged 29, no. 64th in WTA).
The Romanian won her first head-to-head match with Boulter, in the first round in Burnie (Australia), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), in 2018, and the Briton got her revenge in 2022, in Tallinn (Estonia), 6-3, 6-1, in the first round.
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