Sorana Cirstea … overlooked?

Reaching a Grand Slam quarterfinal at age 19, boasting multiple wins over higher-ranked opponents – including major champions and former No.1s – and rising to within one tantalising spot of a top 20 ranking, Sorana Cirstea is hardly what you’d term a “quiet achiever”.

But having spent most of the past two seasons overcoming a serious shoulder injury, Cirstea’s recent return to top-level tennis has occurred almost by stealth. As many tennis conversations focus on the absence of big-name superstars Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova – and their colleagues’ surprisingly slow ability to convincingly step into the void – the Romanian has steadily set about the task of rebuilding her decimated career.

And for now, at least, a behind-the-radar approach is proving a perfect strategy. Once one of the game’s more marketable “Next Big Things” as she mingled with international celebrities in the most glamorous settings, Cirstea has more recently been found toiling through qualifying draws or competing at little-known ITF events.

Far from the Grand Slams – the last major main draw she contested was at Australian Open 2015 – or even the WTA Tour, Cirstea fine-tuned the character-building qualities so critical to a successful return from injury. As she related to wtainsider.com this week, Cirstea’s coach recently complimented the Romanian on the gritty tenacity she’d demonstrated on the ITF circuit.

“He told me, ‘You know what, Sorana? I appreciate you, because you are trying to come back and fighting through this. You could have put the racquet away and started whatever you wanted. But the fact that you are here, struggling, playing girls who are 17, 18 years old. For me it’s hat’s off. You should see it this way, as a challenge’,” she explained.

An encouraging run to the Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinals shows how much the hard work has paid off. After dismissing Jelena Jankovic in the opening round, Cirstea defeated Danka Kovinic and Laura Siegemund. The 26-year is in fact yet to drop a set in her most successful run at a WTA Premier event since her Toronto finals run in 2013.

The dominant performances over higher-ranked opponents are notable enough, but the quarterfinal showing becomes even more impressive when you consider that Sorana – who built her power-packed game around a big serve – has done it with a completely remodelled service action. With full extension resulting in pain and potential compensation problems, Cirstea now has an abbreviated motion. “I need to be careful because my problem is going to be there for the rest of my career,” explained the Romanian, who demonstrated plenty of patience in finding a workable solution.

“I studied a lot of abbreviated serves,” she said.”I was looking at Andy Roddick’s, and he had a really good serve. But it was interesting because I started to be more careful, to watch a little bit more and understand tennis from a different perspective. I think all of this has helped me.”

The glass-is-half-full explanation points to the important perspective Cirstea gained in her time away from the WTA Tour. Where once she struggled to cope with inevitable losses, the more philosophical competitor now has a different view: “Of course at 17, 18, I was 30 in the world and wondering, ‘Why aren’t I Top 10?’ I think this is taking things for granted instead of saying, ‘I’m 18, I’m No.30 in the world, let’s work to get better’.”

If that’s an outlook that might evolve naturally as a player matures, it’s one that could be especially powerful for Cirstea, who enters her Madrid quarterfinal against Dominika Cibulkova with important momentum. Ranked world No.244 at the end of her 2015 season, she’s already improved to No.127 and will re-enter the top 100 after her successful week.

Numbers, though, are not the only measure for a woman who sees her post-injury period as a completely new career. “The most important thing for me is how I see tennis right now: I’m lucky to be here, and I appreciate it,” she stressed to wtainsider.com. “I’m not taking anything for granted anymore, because I remember when I was staying at home on my couch watching the matches. It’s nice, so I want to enjoy every single day because it goes very quickly.”

Although perhaps not too fast for the former No.21 to create quite a stir in her comeback to top level tennis – as many notable opponents are experiencing, Sorana Cirstea version 2 could well be more impactful than the first one.