Her nickname is “Draculina”
When an opportunity strikes for the Romanian to be festive, Jaqueline Cristian will pounce on it. Back in 2021, Cristian played in the Transylvania Open (Cluj-Napoca) in her home country, and walked onto the court debuting a now-famous vampire costume. Calling herself "Draculina," Cristian fully embraced the spooky vibe of the tournament, which was then held around Halloween.
Grand Slam success in 2025
Cristian has had her best results at the majors this year, reaching the third round of a Slam for the first time at the Australian Open by besting Petra Martic and Lucia Bronzetti before falling to Eva Lys. She matched that result at Roland Garros, losing to four-time champion Iga Swiatek. The Romanian notched her first US Open win this week, defeating Danielle Collins in the first round, 6-2, 6-0.
She reached a career-high ranking of No. 49 earlier this summer on the back of a run to the Rabat final, and later reached the Iasi semifinals, followed by a trip to the third round in Montreal, falling to Elena Rybakina.
She is looking to continue her winning record against Americans
Including Tuesday’s first-round result, Cristian holds a 2-1 record against Americans this year (7-8 in her career). The Romanian will look to win her third match against an American on Thursday when she faces Ashlyn Krueger, and could potentially meet No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova in Round 3.
