Kazakhstani tennis player Zhibek Kulambayeva (174) and her Armenian partner Alina Charaeva (862) are performing successfully at the WTA-250 tournament in Romania. In the quarterfinals, the Kazakh-Armenian duo defeated Spanish player Georgina Garcia Perez (499) and Russian Alevtina Ibragimova (315) with a score of 6:2, 7:5. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The first set went to Zhibek and Alina thanks to an excellent start. Taking a 3-0 lead with two breaks, they successfully closed out the set. The second set was more competitive. Garcia Perez and Ibragimova recovered breaks twice. However, the third break, achieved by 26-year-old Kulambayeva and 24-year-old Charaeva in the 11th game, proved decisive. 6:2, 7:5 in 1 hour 16 minutes in a match with no aces. 61:46 – total points won.
This is the first time both tennis players have reached the semifinals of a WTA 250 doubles event. To reach the final, the Kazakh-Armenian pair will face the top seeds in Iasi: Belgian Magali Kempen (52) and Russian Alexandra Panova (38).
In singles, former Russian Charaeva, who trains in Spain and has been playing for Armenia only since this July, lost to our Yulia Putintseva – 3:6, 3:6. Kulambayeva lost in singles qualifying to Spanish Leyre Romero Gormaz (143) – 1:6, 4:6.
The Unicredit Iasi Open tennis tournament appeared recently – in 2022. In 2025, the clay court tournament in Iasi replaced the Hungarian Grand Prix on the WTA calendar and received the "250" category. Local 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 top seed, Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (37), withdrew from the tournament at the last moment. Her place in the draw was taken by Putintseva.