Cristina_Bucșa

Cristina Bucșa

Cristina Bucșa

Moldovan-born Spanish tennis player (born 1998)


Cristina Bucșa (born 1 January 1998) is a Moldovan-born Spanish professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 56 in singles, achieved on 15 January 2024, and of No. 38 in doubles, achieved on 8 April 2024.[1]

Quick Facts Country (sports), Residence ...

Early life and background

Cristina Bucșa was born in Chișinău, Moldova. Her father, Ion Bucșa, is a former biathlete who was Moldova's flag bearer at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics.[2][3] When she was three years old, her family moved to Cantabria in northern Spain; they originally moved to Las Fraguas before settling in Torrelavega.[4] Bucșa attended the Instituto Marqués De Santillana in Torrelavega, where she was awarded the title of Illustrious Alumna in December 2022.[5] She speaks Spanish, Romanian, English, and French.[6]

Bucșa began playing tennis at the age of five.[7][8] In 2014, she moved to Barcelona to train at the Centre d'Alt Rendiment de Sant Cugat,[2][9] but she moved back to Torrelavega in 2016, where she currently lives and trains.[10] She is coached by her father, who is self-taught and also acts as her physiotherapist.[2][11] Being unsponsored, she buys her own kits and rackets for the tour.[10][12] She does not have any public social media profiles, only using Facebook to keep in touch with other tennis players.[13]

She received her Spanish passport in 2014 and began representing Spain in 2015.[2]

Professional career

2017–2020: ITF Circuit titles

Bucșa won her first ITF Circuit titles in both singles and doubles in 2017. In May 2017, Bucșa won the ITF Santarém title after defeating Valeria Savinykh in the final.[14] In November 2017, Bucșa and doubles partner Yana Sizikova won the Open Ciudad de Valencia after defeating Georgina García Pérez and Andrea Gámiz in the final.[15]

Bucșa entered the qualifiers of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, where she lost to Samantha Murray Sharan in the second round.[16] One month later, she won the Open Araba en Femenino title in Vitoria-Gasteiz.[17]

2021–2022: Grand Slam debut and WTA 1000 debut

Bucșa entered the singles main draw in a Grand Slam for the first time in her career at the 2021 US Open, after defeating Kateryna Baindl, Elvina Kalieva, and Océane Dodin in qualifying.[18]

In 2022, Bucșa qualified for the Australian Open and the French Open, but lost in the first round of both.[19][20] She also qualified for her first WTA 1000 event at the Canadian Open. Bucșa recorded her first win at a major at the US Open, defeating Kaja Juvan before losing to 19th seed Danielle Collins.[21]

2023: Top 100, first major third round, WTA 1000 wins, WTA 250 doubles title, WTA 125 titles

Bucșa at the 2023 Birmingham Classic

Bucșa reached the top 100 on 16 January 2023. She qualified for the Australian Open and recorded her first two wins at this major, defeating Eva Lys and Bianca Andreescu.[22][23] She then lost to world No. 1, Iga Świątek, in the third round.[24][25] This was her best result at a major thus far.[26]

At the Lyon Open, she won her first doubles title with Bibiane Schoofs.[27] As a result, she reached a new career-high doubles ranking of No. 61 on 6 February 2023. In Indian Wells, she reached the second round of a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career, defeating Katie Swan as a qualifier.[28]

Bucșa made her main draw debut at Wimbledon, defeating Kamilla Rakhimova for her first win before losing to fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula in the second round.[29][30]

She entered the main draw of the Canadian Open as a lucky loser, but lost to Petra Martić in the first round.[31] She reached the second round on her debut at the Cincinnati Open, upsetting 13th seed Belinda Bencic.[32] At the Guadalajara Open, she double bageled former top-ten player Kristina Mladenovic.[33]

In mid-December, she won her first WTA 125 title at the Open de Limoges, defeating Elsa Jacquemot in the final. She also won the doubles title in Limoges with partner Yana Sizikova after defeating Oksana Kalashnikova and Maia Lumsden in the final.[34][35]

2024: Top 60 in singles and top 50 in doubles

Bucșa began her season in Brisbane and reached the doubles semifinal with her partner Alexandra Panova.[36] She qualified for Adelaide as a lucky loser in singles, and defeated Jasmine Paolini before losing to top seed Elena Rybakina in the second round.[37][38] Following this, she reached a new career-high singles ranking of No. 56 on 15 January 2024. At the Australian Open, she reached the doubles quarterfinals with Panova.[39][40] As a result, she reached the top 50 in doubles.[41]

Continuing her campaign on hardcourts, Bucșa participated in the Abu Dhabi Open where, as a lucky loser, she reached the quarterfinals and, once again, lost to top seed Elena Rybakina.[42] In Doha, she and partner Monica Niculescu reached the doubles quarterfinal.[43] Bucșa then made her debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships where she replaced fifth seed Ons Jabeur, also as a lucky loser, into the second round, before losing to eventual runner-up Anna Kalinskaya.[44]

Seeded fourth in singles in Bogotá, Bucșa defeated You Xiaodi and Jule Niemeier before losing to her doubles partner Kamilla Rakhimova in the quarterfinals.[45] Bucșa and Rakhimova later won the doubles title in Bogotá after defeating the third-seeded team of Anna Bondár and Irina Khromacheva in the final, bringing Bucșa to a career-high doubles ranking of No. 38.[46] In Madrid, Bucșa defeated Harriet Dart before losing to 10th seed Daria Kasatkina.[47][48]

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[49]

Singles

Current through the 2024 Madrid Open.

More information Tournament, SR ...

Doubles

Current through the 2024 Miami Open.

More information Tournament, SR ...

WTA Tour finals

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

More information Legend, Finals by surface ...
More information Result, W–L ...

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 1 (title)

More information Result, W–L ...

Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

More information Result, W–L ...

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runner–ups)

More information Legend ...
More information Result, W–L ...

Doubles: 19 (9 titles, 10 runner–ups)

More information Legend ...
More information Result, W–L ...

Head-to-head records

Record against top 10 players

  • She has a 0–6 (0%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
More information Result, W–L ...

Notes

  1. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009–2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
  2. Qualified directly into the second round as a lucky loser. Counted as one loss.
  3. 2013: WTA ranking - 1203, 2014: WTA ranking - 1193, 2015: WTA ranking - 757, 2016: WTA ranking - 798, 2017: WTA ranking - 415, 2018: WTA ranking - 346.
  4. 2015: WTA ranking - 1167, 2016: WTA ranking - 1278, 2017: WTA ranking - 284, 2018: WTA ranking - 172.

    References

    1. "Cristina Bucsa - Overview". WTA. 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
    2. Falagán, Aser (30 January 2023). "Cristina Bucsa, la tenista atípica". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    3. Solsona, Joan (5 July 2023). "Cristina Bucsa: "Quiero ser cinturón negro de karate"". MARCA (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    4. Murciego, Fernando (27 November 2022). "El milagro de Cristina Bucsa". Puntodebreak.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    5. Paradelo, Javier G. (5 December 2022). "La tenista Cristina Bucsa, alumna ilustre de su instituto". EFE Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 April 2024.
    6. Albarrán, Nacho (16 January 2023). "Bucsa se estrena en Australia: "Tengo 7 equipaciones y me vale"". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    7. Aragon, Andres (18 January 2023). "Cristina Bucsa: sin redes, sin patrocinadores y en tercera ronda del Open de Australia". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    8. Rivera, Beatriz (24 April 2024). "La otra faceta de Cristina Bucsa". Diario ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 April 2024.
    9. Mühlenberg, Nacho (30 March 2015). "Cristina Bucsa, diamante en bruto con pasaporte español". Puntodebreak.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    10. Solsona, Joan (18 January 2024). "Cristina Bucsa: "No me impresiona ninguna tenista, veo que puedo con ellas"". MARCA (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    11. Străjescu, Carolina (16 January 2023). "Cristina Bucșa s-a calificat în turul secund la Australian Open". Radio Moldova (in Romanian). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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    13. Bisti, Riccardo (29 November 2022). "Niente social, niente sponsor... ma (quasi) top-100 WTA". Tennis Magazine Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 26 April 2024.
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    17. Jiménez, Olga (29 July 2019). "Cristina Bucsa impone su ley en el World Tennis Vitoria". El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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    23. Reid, Andrew (18 January 2023). "'Terrible': Bianca Andreescu 'implodes' in brutal Aus Open scenes". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    24. Tan, Gill (20 January 2023). "Women's wrap: Fearless four Grand Slam champions advance". Australian Open. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    25. Nair, Rohith (21 January 2023). "Swiatek stays grounded ahead of Rybakina test in clash of champions". Reuters. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    26. García Mayo, Óscar (18 January 2023). "La torrelaveguense Cristina Bucsa sigue adelante en Australia y reta a la número 1". Cadena SER (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    27. Kapetanakis, Arthur (6 February 2023). "Take Five: Alycia Parks wins first WTA title; Stan Wawrinka plays hero in Davis Cup return". US Open. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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    30. Vidart, Marco G. (6 July 2023). "Cristina Bucsa cae en la segunda ronda de Wimbledon". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
    31. Martínez, José (8 August 2023). "Bucsa cae en primera ronda en Montreal". Canal Tenis (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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    35. Gómez Forcadell, Tomás (17 December 2023). "Bucsa se lleva doble título en Limoges". Canal Tenis (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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    42. Mesic, Dzevad (9 February 2024). "Abu Dhabi: Elena Rybakina sets up semis against player who is her nightmare matchup". Tennis World USA. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
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    49. "Cristina Bucsa [ESP] | Australian Open". ausopen.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14.

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