Tennis: Irina Begu qualifies for quarterfinals of Phillip Island Trophy (WTA)

Romanian tennis player Irina Begu qualified for the quarterfinals of the Phillip Island Trophy (WTA 250), with total prizes of 235,238 US dollars, after defeating Chinese Qiang Wang, 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-1, in Melbourne, on Tuesday. Begu (30, WTA's 74) needed two hours and 15 minutes to win the match against seed no. 1, after being led 3-1 and 5-3 in the first set. Wang (29, WTA's 34), who won the only duel between the two players so far, in 2018, in the second round of the US Open, 6-3, 6-1, finished with 4 aces and 7 double faults, while Begu had 2 aces and a double mistake, being superior in both services and break balls. Begu secured a cheque of 5,250 US dollars and 60 WTA points, and will play in the quarterfinals against seed no. 2, Bianca Andreescu (Canada), who benefited from the abandonment of Kazakh Zarina Dias after the first set, won 6-1. Begu and Andreescu (20, WTA's 9) will meet for the fourth time, the player of Romanian origin representing Canada scoring 2-1 in the direct matches. AGERPRES (RO-author: Mihai Tenea, editor: Mihai Dragomir, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)