” I think (when) you lose a set 6-0, I mean, the first three games I will say she played well. One or two points, it could have been 2-1. The last three games definitely was on my racquet where I was just making errors.
“I kind of just, like, brushed it off because I was like, Really, she beat you in three to four games that set, and you gave away three. I think for me, when I lose a set like that, you feel better about it than when you lose a set and you feel like you’re playing good and they’re just blowing you off the court.
I don’t like getting bagelled, but it’s OK. I am happy with how I was able to buckle down. I felt, like, very confident going into the third set, (when) I could have let the 6-0 get to me.”
The 20-year-old American won against Pole Magdalena Frech (6-3, 6-3) in the previous round of the Rome tournament.
Cristian, ranked No 68, defeated Russian Elina Avanesyan (5-7, 6-2, 6-2) to reach the third round.
Rome WTA 1000, other third-round results (Foro Italico, clay, USD 5.509.771, most recent results first):
- eElina Svitolina vs. Anna Kalinskaya
- Danielle Collins vs. Caroline Garcia
- Victoria Azarenka vs. Mayar Sherif
- Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Jelena Ostapenko
- Dayana Yastremska vs. Aryna Sabalenka
- Sofia Kenin vs. Rebecca Sramkova
- Elise Mertens vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
- Maria Sakkari vs. Anhelina Kalinina
- Sorana Cirstea (28) beat Marketa Vondrousova (6): 7-6 (1), 6-3
- Madison Keys (18) beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (12): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
- Qinwen Zheng (7) beat Linda Noskova (29): 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
- Naomi Osaka beat Daria Kasatkina (10): 6-3, 6-3
- Angelique Kerber beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Q): 6-3, 7-6 (4)
- Paula Badosa beat Diana Shnaider: 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
- Iga Swiatek (1) beat Yulia Putintseva: 6-3, 6-4
