Mihaela Buzărnescu (born 4 May 1988) is an inactive Romanian tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 20, achieved on 6 August 2018. Her best doubles ranking of world No. 24, she reached on 22 October 2018. She won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
Buzărnescu has a PhD in sports science from the National University of Physical Education and Sport.
Career
2004: Turned pro, junior success Buzărnescu played her first professional match in 2004. She then won the junior doubles title at the 2006 US Open with Raluca Olaru. Seeded No. 2, they defeated the top-seeded pair of Sharon Fichman and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.
2016: Injuries and hiatus Shoulder and knee injuries (the latter prompting two surgeries) forced her off the pro tour for years, long enough that she went back to school, graduating with a doctorate at the National University of Physical Education and Sport in December 2016.
2017: Major and top 100 debuts In 2017, she qualified to make her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2017 US Open (tennis). In October 2017, Buzărnescu got to the semifinals of the Linz Open. As a result, she reached the top 100 as world No. 89 on 16 October 2017.
2018: First career titles, top 20 in singles She reached the finals of the Hobart International and the Prague Open. At the Internationaux de Strasbourg, she surrendered a lead in the singles semifinals against Dominika Cibulková, eventually losing the match in three sets. She showed more consistency in the doubles, winning the tournament and her first WTA title with compatriot Raluca Olaru in straight sets against Nadiia Kichenok and Anastasia Rodionova.
In May, Buzărnescu then played in her first French Open, which was also the first Grand Slam tournament, she was seeded. She defeated Vania King in the first round for her first major win. Afterwards, she also won versus Rebecca Peterson. Against No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina in the third round, Buzărnescu won the match in straight sets. This was her biggest career victory and one of the tournament's bigger upsets. She faced No. 13 seed Madison Keys in the fourth round, and lost in two sets.
In the grass-court season, Buzărnescu reached the quarterfinals of the Nature Valley Open in Nottingham, losing to Naomi Osaka. She also played in the doubles tournament with British partner Heather Watson, losing in the final. At the 2018 Birmingham Classic, she once again defeated second seed Svitolina, before losing to eventual champion Petra Kvitová in the semifinals. Buzărnescu then played for a third consecutive week in Eastbourne. She reached the last 16 before losing to Jeļena Ostapenko. However, she reached the doubles final with partner Irina-Camelia Begu.
In August, Buzărnescu captured her first WTA Tour singles title winning in San Jose with a straight-sets victory over Maria Sakkari in the final. Later in August, she played Elina Svitolina once more in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal but suffered a serious ankle injury and was forced to retire. This injury kept her out of the game for two months including the US Open but she did reach her best ever ranking of No. 20 in the world, on 6 August 2018. Buzārnescu ended the year ranked 24.
2019–2020 Buzărnescu began her 2019 season at the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to eventual finalist Lesia Tsurenko. Seeded second and last year finalist at the Hobart International, she was defeated in the first round by Belinda Bencic. Seeded 25th at the Australian Open, she lost her first-round match to seven-time Grand Slam winner, two-time finalist, and former world No. 1, Venus Williams.
In February, Buzărnescu represented Romania in the Fed Cup tie against the Czech Republic. She lost both of her rubbers to Karolína Plíšková and Kateřina Siniaková. In the end, Romania still managed to win the tie over the Czech Republic 3–2. At the Qatar Ladies Open, she was defeated in the first round by 2016 finalist Jeļena Ostapenko. In Dubai, she lost in the first round to Sofia Kenin. Seeded fourth at the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco, she won her first match of the season by beating Daria Gavrilova in the first round. She was defeated in the second round by Bianca Andreescu. Seeded 29th at the Indian Wells Open, she suffered a second-round loss at the hands of Daria Gavrilova. Seeded 30th in Miami, she lost in the second round to Alizé Cornet.
Buzărnescu started her clay-court season at the Charleston Open. Seeded 12th, she reached the third round where she lost to fifth seed, 2011 champion, and eventual finalist, Caroline Wozniacki.
2021–2022 Partnering Fanny Stollár, Buzărnescu won the doubles title at the 2021 Budapest Grand Prix, defeating Aliona Bolsova and Tamara Korpatsch in the final.
At the 2022 French Open, she entered the main draw as lucky loser but lost in the first round to Madison Brengle. Playing at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, she entered the main draw by replacing Leylah Fernandez, and defeated qualifier Nastasja Schunk, in the first round, before losing to 11th seed Coco Gauff.
Buzărnescu recorded wins over Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Yuan Yue to reach the quarterfinals at the 2022 Swedish Open where she lost to Viktoriya Tomova. At the 2022 Iași Open, she retired due to injury while leading by a set and a break against Cristina Dinu in the first round.
Performance timelines
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.
Singles Current through the 2022 Prague Open. Tournament20112012...20152016201720182019202020212022…2025Win %Grand Slam tournaments Australian OpenAQ2AAQ21R1RA1RQ1A0 / 30–3 French OpenAQ2AAA4R1RQ12R1RQ10 / 44–4 WimbledonAQ2AAQ23R2RNH1R2RQ10 / 44–4 US OpenQ3Q1Q1A1RA1R1RQ3AA0 / 30–3Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–15–31–40–11–31–20–00 / 148–14Year-end championshipsWTA Elite TrophyDNQAltDNQNH0 / 00–0National representation Summer OlympicsNHANHANH2R0 / 11–1WTA 1000Dubai / Qatar OpenAAAAA3R1RAAAA0 / 22–2Indian Wells OpenAAAAA1R2RNHAAA0 / 20–2Miami OpenAAAAA1R2RNH1RAA0 / 30–3Madrid OpenAAAAA1R2RNHAAA0 / 21–2Italian OpenAAAAA1R3RAAAA0 / 22–2Canadian OpenAAAAA2RQ2NHAAQ10 / 11–1Cincinnati OpenAAAAAAQ1AAAQ10 / 00–0China OpenAAAAA1RANHAA0 / 10–1Career statisticsTournaments 00003232311232Career total: 65Titles00000100000Career total: 1Finals00000300000Career total: 3Overall win–loss0–00–00–00–03–336–2213–260–17–141–40–01 / 6560–70Year-end ranking1552482603777224109136121393940
Doubles Tournament20182019202020212022Grand Slam tournaments Australian Open1R2RA1RA0 / 31–3 French OpenQF1RA1RA0 / 33–3 WimbledonQF1RNHAA0 / 23–2 US OpenAAAAA0 / 00–0Win–loss6–31–30–00–20–00 / 87–8WTA 1000Dubai / Qatar Open2R1RAAA0 / 21–2Indian Wells Open1R1RNHAA0 / 20–2Miami OpenA1RNHAA0 / 10–1Madrid Open1RQFNHAA0 / 22–2Italian OpenA1RAAA0 / 10–1Canadian Open1RANHAA0 / 10–1China Open2RANHA0 / 11–1Career statisticsTitles1001Career total: 2Finals4002Career total: 6
Mixed doubles Tournament20182019...2022 Australian OpenA1RA0–1 French Open1R1RA0–2 Wimbledon2RAA1–1 US OpenAAA0–0Win–loss1–20–20–01–4
WTA Tour finals Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups) LegendWTA 500 (1–0)WTA 250 (0–2)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (0–1) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jan 2018 Hobart International, Australia International Hard Elise Mertens 1–6, 6–4, 3–6Loss 0–2 May 2018 Prague Open, Czech Republic International Clay Petra Kvitová 6–4, 2–6, 3–6Win 1–2 Jul 2018Silicon Valley Classic, United StatesPremier Hard Maria Sakkari 6–1, 6–0
Doubles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendWTA 500 (0–1)WTA 250 (2–3)Finals by surfaceClay (2–2)Grass (0–2) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1May 2018Prague Open, Czech RepublicInternationalClay Lidziya Marozava Nicole Melichar Květa Peschke4–6, 2–6Win1–1May 2018Internationaux de Strasbourg, FranceInternationalClay Raluca Olaru Nadiia Kichenok Anastasia Rodionova7–5, 7–5Loss1–2June 2018Nottingham Open, United KingdomInternationalGrass Heather Watson Alicja Rosolska Abigail Spears3–6, 6–7(5–7)Loss1–3June 2018Eastbourne International, UKPremierGrass Irina-Camelia Begu Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan3–6, 5–7Loss1–4Apr 2021Copa Colsanitas, ColombiaWTA 250Clay Anna-Lena Friedsam Elixane Lechemia Ingrid Neel3–6, 4–6Win2–4Budapest Grand Prix, HungaryWTA 250Clay Fanny Stollár Aliona Bolsova Tamara Korpatsch6–4, 6–4
WTA 125 finals Doubles: 1 (runner-up) ResultDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss Båstad Open, Sweden Clay Irina Khromacheva Misaki Doi Rebecca Peterson w/o
ITF Circuit finals Singles: 31 (23 titles, 8 runner-ups) Legend$100,000 tournaments$80,000 tournaments$60,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$10,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (8–3)Clay (14–4)Carpet (1–1) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Jun 2004ITF Pitești, Romania10,000 Clay Liana Balaci 6–3, 7–6(7–4)Win 2–0 Jun 2004ITF Brașov, Romania10,000 Clay Andrea Benítez 6–3, 7–5Win 3–0 May 2006ITF La Palma, Spain25,000 Hard Nadja Pavić 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–3Loss 3–1 May 2007ITF Rabat, Morocco10,000 Clay Yuliya Kalabina 1–6, 1–6Win 4–1 Jun 2008ITF Pitești, Romania10,000 Clay Palma Kiraly 6–0, 6–3Win 5–1 Jun 2008ITF Bucharest, Romania10,000 Clay Federica di Sarra 6–2, 6–2Loss 5–2 Mar 2010ITF Antalya, Turkey10,000 Clay Valentyna Ivakhnenko 3–6, 0–6Win 6–2 Aug 2010ITF Oneşti, Romania10,000 Clay Ionela-Andreea Iova 6–0, 6–1Loss 6–3 Aug 2010ITF Bucharest, Romania10,000 Clay Ingrid-Alexandra Radu 5–7, 6–1, 3–6Win 7–3 Aug 2010ITF Balş, Romania10,000 Clay Alexandra Cadanţu 6–3, 6–2Loss 7–4 Dec 2010ITF Dubai, United Arab Emirates10,000 Hard Marta Sirotkina 0–6, 0–6Win 8–4 May 2011ITF İzmir, Turkey25,000 Hard Naomi Broady 7–5, 6–4Win 9–4 July 2011ITF Craiova, Romania25,000 Clay Annalisa Bona 6–2, 3–6, 6–4Win 10–4 July 2011ITF Zwevegem, Belgium25,000 Clay Bibiane Schoofs 3–6, 6–2, 6–4Win 11–4 Sep 2014ITF Bucharest, Romania10,000 Clay Simona Ionescu 6–3, 2–6, 6–1Win 12–4 Mar 2015ITF Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia10,000 Hard Lou Brouleau 6–0, 6–1Win 13–4 Apr 2015ITF Port El Kantaoui10,000 Hard Natalija Sipek 6–1, 6–0Win 14–4 Aug 2015ITF Westende, Belgium25,000 Hard Océane Dodin 6−1, 6–1Loss 14–5 Nov 2015ITF Zawada, Poland25,000 Carpet (i) Ivana Jorović 2–6, 2–6Win 15–5 Dec 2015ITF Cairo, Egypt25,000 Clay Valentyna Ivakhnenko 6–0, 6–3Win 16–5 Jun 2017Hódmezővásárhely Ladies Open, Hungary60,000 Clay Danka Kovinić 6–2, 6–1Win 17–5 Jun 2017İzmir Cup, Turkey60,000 Hard Eri Hozumi 6–1, 6–0Win 18–5 Jul 2017ITF Getxo, Spain25,000 Clay Renata Zarazúa 6–2, 6–2Win 19–5 Jul 2017Reinert Open, Germany60,000 Clay Barbara Haas 6–0, 6–2Loss 19–6 Aug 2017GB Pro-Series Foxhills, UK25,000 Hard Jasmine Paolini 4–6, 6–1, 4–6Win 20–6 Sep 2017Open de Biarritz, France80,000 Clay Patty Schnyder 6–4, 6–3Win 21–6 Oct 2017Internationaux de Poitiers, France100,000 Hard (i) Alison Van Uytvanck 6–4, 6–2Loss 21–7 Nov 2017Tokyo Open, Japan100,000 Hard Zhang Shuai 4–6, 0–6Win 22–7 Nov 2017Toyota World Challenge, Japan60,000+H Carpet (i) Tamara Zidanšek 6–0, 6–1Loss 22–8 Sep 2021Open de Valencia, Spain80,000 Clay Arantxa Rus 4–6, 6–7(3–7)Win23–8Oct 2021ITF Le Neubourg, France80,000+HHard Anna Bondár6–1, 6–3
Doubles: 56 (34 titles, 22 runner-ups) Legend$100,000 tournaments$80,000 tournaments$50/60,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$10,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (7–7)Clay (26–15)Carpet (1–0)