It has now been several weeks since our Champ last played at Wimbledon. It is Toronto next for the WTA 1000 as all roads lead to New York for the final Major of the Year.

Sorana has a bye in the first round and in the second she faces young Australian star Maya Joint who has had a tough season but finding some recent form. The question marks for Sorana were, how would she fair after such a long break?

She came out of the blocks racing, serving emphatically, holding to love twice, getting an early break and quickly going 3-1 up but that’s where the magic stopped as she could never really get anything going after that point and lost in straight sets. Always hard to find rhythm after so long, Joint got better and better too. It was disappointing especially watching Sorana who was visibly frustrated that she could not find her tennis yet she looked healthy and moved well it was just a bad day at the office. She also played doubles with young Mirra Andreeva but alas they drew the top seeds and the Toronto adventure was over in just a couple of days.

Cincinatti swiftly followed and again due to her ranking Sorana received a first round bye and next faced Czech, Nikola Bartunkova, this was such a difficult draw as the 20 year old is a strong opponent who has won many matches this year. The first set could not have been closer, Sorana initially fell behind early in a first set tiebreak but was able to convert her 5th set point to take the set which offered so many chances to the Romanian Champ the whole match seemed to hinge upon it. After that critical victory Sorana found set two easier to negotiate winning it 6-3. It was not Cirstea’s greatest serving display of the year, a low first serve percentage and 8 double faults but first win since Wimbledon and in straight sets against a decent player was just what the doctor ordered as she reached the third round to play her friend and sometimes doubles partner, Anna Kalinskaya. Sorana was rusty today and some of the shot selections were a little dubious but it was a vital win to realign her season and get her back on track.

At this point there is a slight fork in the road as I am travelling to Bistrita to support the other Romanian players. I see the first 20 minutes of Sorana’s next match but it is a rain interrupted match which continues into the night as I begin my long coach trip. Sorana loses the first set on a tiebreak but then goes on to dominate the rest of the match with Anna retiring at 0-5 in the final set.

Cincinatti proves to be another successful tournament for our Champ who is looking to find her groove yet again. In the round of 16 she is pitted against 3rd seed American Jessica Pegula. In a match not dissimilar to her triumphant comeback win from a set and a break down against Sabalenka in Rome earlier in the year Sorana produces an incredible fightback but sadly this time cannot clear the final hurdle. Heavily beaten in set one and down an early break in set two, survival mode once again kicked in and she battled back time and time again with some glorious resistance and some pumping backhand winners. Yet deep in the third Pegula stopped the dream and ended Sorana’s hopes of another quarter final. All in all and especially after a lacklustre Toronto, Cincinatti was definitely a return to form, Sorana once again proving she can go toe to toe with the best in the world and as the US Open is looming, what is set to be her final ever major, could there be yet another twist in the magical Sorana Swansong?