WTA Wimbledon – 1st Round
Hailey Baptiste vs Sorana Cîrstea
🧠 Form & Context
- Hailey Baptiste
🔥 Best season yet: Broke into the Top 50 in 2025 with deep runs at Roland Garros (R16), Rome, and Miami.
🌱 Limited grass history: Only four career grass wins, but grabbed a good one vs Yuan before falling to Eala in Eastbourne.
🎾 Wimbledon debut: First time in the main draw, but has proven nerves of steel in high-profile matches this year.
⏫ Big-name wins: Victories over Haddad Maia and Kasatkina underline her growing confidence.
🤝 H2H edge: Beat Cîrstea earlier this year in Madrid (three-set battle). - Sorana Cîrstea
🚑 Fitness issues: Played just three matches since March due to injuries, most recently losing to Tomljanovic in Bad Homburg.
📉 Sliding rank: From Top 30 early in 2024 to now outside the Top 150.
🌱 Grass woes: 4–12 record on grass since 2018; hasn’t made it past R3 at Wimbledon in over a decade.
🧠 Veteran presence: Competing in her 17th Wimbledon—experience is her biggest weapon in this matchup.
🔁 Rematch mode: Aiming to avenge her loss to Baptiste from Madrid.
🔍 Match Breakdown
Baptiste comes in with all the momentum and tools to take advantage of a rusty opponent. Her athleticism and power-based game may still need fine-tuning for grass, but she’s already displayed enough composure and rally tolerance to manage big-stage pressure.
Cîrstea’s baseline aggression is dulled by lack of rhythm and match fitness. Her serve and timing are out of sync, and her lateral quickness has visibly dipped. Unless she rediscovers her 2023 rhythm, she’ll struggle to keep pace with Baptiste’s shot production.
🔮 Prediction
Prediction: Baptiste in 3 sets. Expect a rocky start, but the American’s upward trajectory and Cîrstea’s physical questions tip the balance in her favor late.