Jaqueline Cristian is a Romanian professional tennis player who was born on June 5, 1998, in Bucharest, Romania. Introduced to the sport at the spritely young age of 5, Cristian started working her way to becoming a tennis professional.
It was not long before the Romanian was making her first steps on the WTA Tour. Her debut came in the doubles tournament at the 2015 Bucharest Open, with her singles journey starting two years later at that same tournament.
She saw her chance and took it, winning her debut match against Kateryna Baindl in a tight three-setter. All the while trying to become an outright member of the WTA Tour, she made sure to be on the top of the ITF pack. To date she has won 14 titles at said level, becoming an ever-present in the final stages of those competitions.
Back on the WTA side of things, she was making more career firsts with her maiden WTA final in the doubles at the 2019 Bucharest Open, before reaching her first quarterfinal at the 2021 St Petersburg Open. It would, in fact, be that season when she would break through, going on to make the semi-finals in Astana, losing only to number 2 Alison Van Uytvanck.
She was not done there though, with the Linz Open being the tournament to gift her her first taste of a WTA final. She came up just short to an experienced Alison Riske in the final, losing in three sets.
Thanks to such good work in 2021, she was gifted with her first chance at Grand Slam level at the 2022 Australian Open. It was also in the first round against Greet Minnen that she recorded her maiden victory at that level. This win helped her to, just days later, break into the world's Top 60.
The next couple of seasons were a real sign of intent for the Romanian, with her making her debut at the US Open and Wimbledon as well as regaining enough form to reach another semifinal, this time coming at her home WTA event in Bucharest.
