The 36-year-old Romanian, seeded 15th, won the Cluj-Napoca title in February, defeating Emma Raducanu 6-0, 6-2 in the final.
Shubladze broke in the opening game and was up 3-0 again, saving the two break points he faced in between. Serving at 5-2, he saved two more break points and claimed four set points to close out the first set.
After Shubladze broke back at 2-1 in the second set, Cirstea leveled at 3-3, but the qualifier went straight back to 4-3. Shubladze broke again for 5-3 and converted his second match point. He saved seven of the eight break points he faced and broke serve five times. Kirstea won 4 of her 18 second serve points to 14 of Shubladze’s 19.
Shubladze advanced to the qualifying round with 6-4, 6-3 wins over China’s Yin Zhang and 6-4, 6-2 Australian Emerson Jones. In the main draw, she defeated Russian Lyudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round in 2 hours and 50 minutes. She then came from a set down to defeat another Russian, Elena Pridankina, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-3. He never faced Liu on tour.
Kirstea opened her week with a 7-6 (6), 1-6, 7-5 victory over Uzbekistan’s Maria Timofeeva in 3 hours and 11 minutes. She then defeated Mary Stoyana of the United States 7-5, 6-1 before advancing to the elimination round.
Hong Kong Open 2026 Tennis Quarter Final Results
Alexandra Shubladze (Q) d. Sorana Kirstea (1) 6-2, 6-3
Claire Liu d. Zeynep Sonmez: 6-1, 6-4
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Q) vs Maria Sakkari (4)
Antonia Ruzic vs Alexandra Ela (2)
In bold. today’s results.