Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian was dramatically defeated by Alison Riske, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, in the WTA 250 tournament in Linz (Austria), endowed with 189,708 euros in total prize money.

Jaqueline Cristian last night bowed out in her first WTA final in her career after two hours and 24 minutes, reported Agerpres.

The psychological turning point of the match occurred at 5-4 in the decisive set, at 30-30, on Riske’s service, when Cristian missed a shot in which he seemed to be in the lead. Riske (31, WTA 73, United States) then equalised (5-5) and made a relatively easy break, after a few errors by the Romanian, and then she won her service, the set (7-5) and the match.

Cristian (23, WTA 100) entered the top 100 for the first time this week. She had reached the final after her semi-final opponent and co-national Simona Halep withdrew because of an injury.