Jaqueline Cristian is a Romanian tennis player. She made her WTA main-draw debut in singles at the Bucharest Open in July 2019.
Jaqueline Cristian
• Date of birth: 5 June 1998
• Age: 24 years old
• Place of birth: Bucharest, Romania
• Residence: Romania
• Country (sports): Romania
• Height: 180cm / 5ft 11ins
• Plays: Right-handed
• Career Prize Money: US$ 605,360
• Instagram: @jaqueline_cristian
Born in Bucharest in Romania, the 24-year-old has enjoyed success in both singles and doubles early on in her career.
She made her WTA doubles debut at the Bucharest Open in 2017, partnering fellow Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Jaqueline enjoyed something of a breakthrough year in 2021, with the Romanian tennis player embarking on an impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Transylvania Open after having been handed a wildcard into the main draw.
Following that, she came through qualifying as a lucky loser at Linz and reached her maiden WTA Tour level singles final, where she eventually lost to Alison Riske of the United States.
She made her grand slam main-draw debut in January 2022 at the Australian Open and won her first-round match.
So, what do we know about Cristian’s journey to becoming the tennis player she is today? This is her story.
Early Life, Family And Upbringing
Jaqueline Cristian (full name: Jaqueline Adina Cristian) was born on 5 June 1998 in Bucharest, Romania.
She was named after Jackie (Jacqueline) Kennedy after her uncle watched a documentary about the former first lady of the United States the day before she was born.
Cristian began playing tennis when she was five years old and her favourite surface is clay.
When she was around 12 years old, she began training at Nick Bollettieri’s academy in Florida in the United States during the winter months, returning to her native homeland of Romania during the spring and summer.
Asked to describe her game, Cristian said in an interview in 2015: “I like to be aggressive, to hit the ball hard, to attack and come to the net.”
Cristian has credited fellow Romanian player Simona Halep for helping to inspire the next generation of young players from the country.
Jaqueline Cristian (Photo: @jaqueline_cristian / Instagram)
“She is the one who started to show us that it is possible,” Cristian said of Halep in September 2021. “That gives you confidence. “She is a great player, and I always tried to learn something from her. It is really motivating that someone from Romania made it like that, because it is hard.”
Early Career
Cristian enjoyed a productive junior career which peaked with her reaching a top ranking of number 30 in the world in January 2016. She won two junior singles titles, both on clay, in 2012 and 2013.
She made her WTA main-draw debut in singles at the Bucharest Open in July 2019. After being handed a wildcard into the main draw, she won her first match with a three-set victory over fellow Romanian Sorana Cirstea. That set up a second-round clash with Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, a match she ended up losing 6-1 6-0.
In March 2020, Cristian came through qualifying to reach the main draw of the WTA Lyon Open. She won her first-round match against Priscilla Hon of Australia before falling to Sofia Kenin of the United States in round two.
That was to be her last tournament until August of that year, as a result of the global shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jaqueline Cristian (Photo: @jaqueline_cristian / Instagram)
Breakthrough In 2021
Cristian enjoyed something of a breakthrough year in 2021 as the Romanian continued her steady rise up the world rankings.
In March 2021, she came through qualifying at the Saint Petersburg Ladies Trophy WTA event and beat Vera Lapko and Jelena Ostapenko to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA Tour tournament for the first time in her career. She lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last eight.
Her next major breakthrough came at the Astana Open in 2021, where she made it through to the semi-finals before losing to Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium.
She continued to make steady progress and reached the quarter-finals of the Transylvania Open in October 2021. She lost to fellow countrywoman Simona Halep 6-1 6-1 in the last eight.
Jaqueline Cristian with coach Thomas Drouet (Photo: @jaqueline_cristian / Instagram)
Her next impressive run came just days later at the Linz Open in Austria in early November 2021. She came through qualifying as a lucky loser and made it all the way to the final, beating the likes of Rebecca Peterson and Veronika Kudermetova en route.
She played the USA’s Alison Riske in the first WTA Tour singles final of her career, but ended up losing in three sets 6-2 2-6 5-7. “It was a battle out there today,” said champion Riske afterwards. “Honestly, I was really nervous. I felt I was able to manage my nerves at the end of the day, and I’m very proud of that, because in the past I think I would have let them eat me up and I would not have been able to perform.”
Cristian’s good form in the autumn of 2021 propelled her into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time in her career.
Writing on Instagram after the final, Cristian said: “Thank you WTA Linz Open for making my last week so special. I got to play my first WTA 250 final and cracked into top 100 in the same week!
“The last few weeks were not so bad either but this last week is my best one so far! Even though I didn’t get the big trophy this week I’m really happy with how things turned out and I take it as a great experience for what’s coming next.”
Cristian also paid tribute to her coach Thomas Drouet, who she brought in midway through 2021. “I really want to thank you for believing in me since day one when we started working together back four months ago.
Jaqueline Cristian (Photo: @jaqueline_cristian / Instagram)
“Not that you made me a better player but also a better person and all the hard work and discipline we put in everyday are starting to pay off. That’s even more motivating me to give my best everyday and see where we can get …no limits as someone would say!”
Thanks to her improved ranking, Jaqueline made her singles grand slam main-draw at the 2022 Australian Open via direct entry. She won her first-round match against Belgium’s Greet Minnen before falling to Madison Keys of the USA in round two.
Cristian suffered a knee injury during her second-round match against Russian Daria Kasatkina in Doha in February 2022 and had to leave the court in a wheelchair. She required surgery and was out of action for three months before finally returning to the practice court in June 2022.
Posting on Instagram in early June, Cristian wrote: “It took three months, one surgery, daily rehab, sleepless nights, tears and painful moments but now I’m finally back on court, healthy, stronger and ready to work harder than ever! Let’s go.”
Jaqueline Cristian with coach Thomas Drouet (Photo: @jaqueline_cristian / Instagram)
Earnings And Prize Money
Jaqueline Cristian has earned a total of US$ 605,360 in career prize money, combined for both singles and doubles, as of July 2022.
Life Away From The Court
Not a great deal is known about Jaqueline away from the court, as she seemingly prefers to keep her private life out of the spotlight, with most of her posts on Instagram focusing on her tennis career.