Kazakhstani tennis player Zhibek Kulambayeva (174), paired with Alina Charayeva (862) who plays for Armenia, reached the quarterfinals of the Unicredit Iasi Open in Iasi. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
At the start of the WTA-250 tournament in Iasi, the Kazakh-Armenian duo won a tough match against Russians Maria Kozyreva (59) and Elena Pridankina (76) – 6:3, 4:6, 10:8.
Kulambayeva and Charayeva won the first set thanks to a single break in the fourth game – 6:3. In the second set, they led 4:1 but lost five consecutive games – 4:6. Kozyreva and Pridankina started the super tiebreak better – 4:1, but the finish went to Kulambayeva and her partner – 10:8.
The match lasted 1 hour 40 minutes. The opponents for Kulambayeva and Charayeva in the semifinals have not yet been determined.
For Charayeva, a native of Samara who has been playing for Armenia since July 2026, this was her second time on court that day. In singles, the former Russian lost to Kazakhstani Yulia Putintseva – 3:6, 3:6.
Earlier, in the singles qualifying, Kulambayeva lost to Spaniard Leyre Romero Gormaz (143) – 1:6, 4:6.
The tennis Unicredit Iasi Open appeared recently – in 2022. In 2025, the clay court tournament in Iasi took the place of the Hungarian Grand Prix in the WTA calendar and received the '250' category.
Local tennis players have won the singles title three times. Except for 2024, when young Russian star Mirra Andreeva triumphed. The doubles title that year was won by the duo Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan)/Irina Khromacheva (Russia).
The prize fund of Unicredit Iasi Open-2026 is $283,350. The first seed, Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (37), withdrew from the tournament at the last moment. Her place in the draw was taken by Putintseva.