WTA 250 Cleveland: Cirstea and Li Advance to the Final

After the eliminations of Elsa Jacquemot and Loïs Boisson, no French players remained in contention at the WTA 250 tournament in Cleveland. The semifinals of this American tournament took place overnight from Friday to Saturday.

At the end of these matches, Sorana Cirstea and Ann Li secured their spots in the final. The Romanian, ranked 112th in the world and coming through the qualifiers, continued her impressive run.

After victories against Moyuka Uchijima (6-4, 6-1), Jil Teichmann (6-1, 6-1), and top seed Liudmila Samsonova in the quarterfinals (6-4, 6-1), the 35-year-old player continues to impress, having not dropped a single set since the start of the tournament.

In the semifinals, the former world No. 21 eliminated Anastasia Zakharova (6-1, 7-5) and will now compete for her third WTA Tour title, her first since Istanbul in 2021.
On the other side, Ann Li will face Cirstea in the final.

The American, who had previously defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva (7-5, 6-3), Iva Jovic (6-3, 2-6, 6-3), and Elsa Jacquemot (6-1, 5-7, 6-1), the world No. 69, went on to eliminate the No. 2 seed, Wang Xinyu (6-3, 5-7, 6-4).

The 25-year-old player is also seeking her first title since 2021, when she won her only title to date in Tenerife. This is her second final of the season, following Singapore earlier this year, where she lost to Elise Mertens.