Canadian player Eugenie Bouchard, a Grand Slam finalist, is going to play in this year’s Transylvania Open WTA250, which takes place in Cluj-Napoca between October 8th and 16th. 

This will be her first participation in a Romanian-based tournament.

More than 30 players from WTA Top 100 have confirmed their attendance at the tournament, including two Grand Slam champions – Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Raducanu – and the Romanians Irina Begu, Ana Bogdan, and Jaqueline Cristian.

In 2014, Bouchard reached the singles final in Wimbledon after defeating Simona Halep and then lost the trophy to Petra Kvitova. The same year she played in two other Grand Slam semifinals, in the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Her career high was WTA No. 5.

Her player record counts eight WTA finals and a trophy, but several injuries forced her to stay away from the courts for almost a year. In Cluj, she will play qualifiers in order to gather as many matches as possible, the organizers said.

“We are thrilled to welcome one of the most popular players in the circuit. Eugenie Bouchard is coming to Cluj after serious injuries, and she is very determined to return to the highest places in the WTA rankings, where she surely belongs. Genie reached out to us, and we were pleased to offer her a Wild Card for the Qualifying Draw, which thus becomes much more attractive. She will surely make her mark on this year’s edition of our tournament,” Patrick Ciorcilă, the tournament director, explained.

After the matches, the interviews will be conducted by the Romanian Grand Slam champion Horia Tecău, who is now the captain of the national Billie Jean King team.

Transylvania Open WTA250 takes place between October 8th and 16th, on hard court, in Cluj-Napoca’s BT Arena. There will be two courts inside BT Arena: Central Court and Court no. 2. The tournament will begin with two days of qualifying matches, which will decide who gets the six free seats in the Main Draw.

The first 21 ranked players, according to WTA, will directly enter TO’s Main Draw. Thirty-two players will enter the Singles Main Draw of Transylvania Open WTA250, and 16 pairs will participate in the Doubles competition. 280 WTA points are at stake. Prizes amounting to USD 251,750 are offered.

(Photo: Zairbek Mansurov | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com