Romania's Bogdan advances to round of 16 at Open BLS De Limoges

Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan qualified on Wednesday for the round of 16 at the WTA tournament - Open BLS De Limoges in Limoges (France), with prizes worth 115,000 US dollars, after defeating Dutch Arantxa Rus, with a score of 7-6, 6-2. The Romanian national (aged 27, WTA's 105th) managed to win the event after one hour and 32 minutes. Also on Wednesday, Romania's Monica Niculescu was defeated by Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the main seed, with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, in one hour and 55 minutes. Niculescu secured 887 euro and one WTA point, whereas Bogdan secured a cheque worth 1,815 euro and 15 WTA points. She is to face off US Bernarda Petra, seeded 8th. Sorana Cirstea will also play in the round of 16 against Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo. Niculescu is the main seed in women's doubles, alongside Russian Ana Blinkova. The two of them will play directly in the quarterfinals against the pair made up of Sofia Shapatava (Georgia)/Emily Webley-Smith (UK). AGERPRES (RO - editor: Mihai Tenea; EN - author: Rodica State, editor: Cristina Zaharia)