Sabalenka Accused of 'Cheating' in Rome

At 36 and nearing the twilight of her time on tour, Sorana Cirstea added another memorable achievement to her already impressive resume. For the first time, the Romanian defeated a World No. 1 opponent. Felicitări, Cirstea!

On the other side of the net, though, Aryna Sabalenka endured a difficult afternoon on the Foro Italico clay. And after the loss, the Belarusian also found herself at the center of a controversy that quickly became one of the biggest talking points of the match. Honestly, it just wasn’t a great day at the office for the World No. 1.

Sabalenka Branded a ‘Cheater’ Over Mid-Match Injury Concerns as Shock Italian Open Loss Follows

The world number one gets heavily criticized for a controversial moment during her third-round loss in Rome.

Cirstea secured her first career win over a world number one at the age of 36, proving age truly is just a number.

Sorana Cirstea has reached the quarter-finals at the Grand Slams on two occasions. The first came at Roland-Garros in 2009, where she scored wins over 21st seed Alize Cornet, 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki and fifth seed Jelena Jankovic before going down to Sam Stosur.

Her second one came over 14 years later at the 2023 US Open, where she beat fourth seed Elena Rybakina and 15th seed Belinda Bencic before falling to 10th seed Karolína Muchova.

She has also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open on two occasions (2017 and 2022) and the third round at Wimbledon on five occasions, the most recent one in 2023).

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