US Open: Diane Parry couldn’t match Sorana Cirstea

France’s number 1 was keen to continue her impressive winning streak in the second round of the US Open. But facing Sorana Cirstea, the Nice native experienced a difficult match from start to finish, never managing to impose her style of play.

It was a big challenge awaiting Diane Parry (24 years old, 31^st in the world) at the second round of the US Open in the form of Sorana Cirstea (36 years old, 17^th in the world).

On paper, the two players have completely opposite styles. Sorana Cirstea imposes her rhythm from the baseline with powerful, flat shots. For Nice native Diane Parry it’s something else entirely, she likes to vary the effects and zones, particularly with her single-handed backhand.

Both players are in the form of their lives, both are at the best ranking of their careers. For the past year, Romanian Sorana Cirstea has managed to find the consistency that was lacking. She who had a tendency to pull off exploits without confirming has found her salvation at 36 years old. Diane Parry, meanwhile, was coming off 6 consecutive victories including notably the win of her first WTA title last week (WTA 500 Monterrey).

But the long-awaited style clash never really took place. Too weak at the start of the match, Diane Parry was quickly put in danger on her service games. And, even though she managed to save several break points with authority to lead 2-1 in the first set, she completely lost her footing after that.

Not at all at her best on serve, notably with 4 double faults in the first set, the Nice player conceded the next 5 games to lose 6/2.

At the start of the second set, nothing had changed. Broken immediately, Diane Parry had to play catch-up. Down 2/0, then 3/1, 4/2, she remained calm and, little by little, she seemed to get the measure of her opponent.

More solid on serve and more accurate on backhand, she made life easier for herself on her service games. Thanks to short crosscourt backhands, she got the tall Romanian moving who committed more unforced errors. Sorana Cirstea’s service games became more troubled, and after two match points saved at 6/2-5/4, the Frenchwoman broke back to level at 5/5 in the second set.

Unfortunately at 5/5, the Nice player fell back into her bad habits. Tense, she multiplied unforced errors both on her forehand and backhand. Absent at several moments in the match, Diane Parry will have regrets, final score 6/2-7/5 for Sorana Cirstea.