<p class="title">There is barely half a page devoted to Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu in the WTA's media guide but this week at the French Open she is writing a whole new chapter in her career.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 30-year-old reached the last 16 on Friday with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina -- the biggest win of a career spent in the tennis wilderness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Until this week the number 31 seed had contested only two Grand Slam matches, losing both.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Now she has three wins under her belt and is yet to drop a set. Not bad considering a year ago she was ranked 377.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Her fourth-round opponent Madison Keys admits she has not seen Buzarnescu play before but her rapid rise to 33rd in the rankings is not a surprise to everyone.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Buzarnescu on the way to the title in Melbourne, said she remembers her from their junior days.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I have known her for 15 years. She was always a great player but got a lot of injuries then and had to fight her way back," the Dane, who is also in the last 16, said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I always knew that she had the level and (it) was just a matter of time before her ranking went up."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Incredibly Buzarnescu only made her main draw debut on the WTA Tour last year, falling in the first round in Luxembourg.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She ended 2017 in the top 100, however, after a semifinal run in Linz and her upwards trajectory has continued this year with runners-up spots in Hobart and Prague.</p>.<p class="bodytext">So where has she been before, one might ask?</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I did have had two surgeries on my knee, and I didn't play for two-and-a-half years, and two years, and then started again, and then stopped for six months, freezing my ranking," she told reporters scrambling for background on her on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"So last year I had not a good start, of course, with pain again, and it was really, really tough."</p>.<p class="bodytext">When she was unable to play tennis because of her knee injuries, Buzarnescu decided to study Sports Science.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"When I had the first surgery before I stopped, I said that I didn't know exactly how it will be with the surgery, how it will be (with) the rehab, and if it will be good," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"So that's when I started the Ph D. And then it was three years, because I didn't play for two or three years. I finished it in 2016 when I was playing again.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm happy that I did it. My father also did it. I knew if I was not going to play tennis, maybe it would help me on my resume to have a job somewhere in Romania or abroad."</p>
<p class="title">There is barely half a page devoted to Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu in the WTA's media guide but this week at the French Open she is writing a whole new chapter in her career.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 30-year-old reached the last 16 on Friday with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina -- the biggest win of a career spent in the tennis wilderness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Until this week the number 31 seed had contested only two Grand Slam matches, losing both.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Now she has three wins under her belt and is yet to drop a set. Not bad considering a year ago she was ranked 377.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Her fourth-round opponent Madison Keys admits she has not seen Buzarnescu play before but her rapid rise to 33rd in the rankings is not a surprise to everyone.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Buzarnescu on the way to the title in Melbourne, said she remembers her from their junior days.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I have known her for 15 years. She was always a great player but got a lot of injuries then and had to fight her way back," the Dane, who is also in the last 16, said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I always knew that she had the level and (it) was just a matter of time before her ranking went up."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Incredibly Buzarnescu only made her main draw debut on the WTA Tour last year, falling in the first round in Luxembourg.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She ended 2017 in the top 100, however, after a semifinal run in Linz and her upwards trajectory has continued this year with runners-up spots in Hobart and Prague.</p>.<p class="bodytext">So where has she been before, one might ask?</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I did have had two surgeries on my knee, and I didn't play for two-and-a-half years, and two years, and then started again, and then stopped for six months, freezing my ranking," she told reporters scrambling for background on her on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"So last year I had not a good start, of course, with pain again, and it was really, really tough."</p>.<p class="bodytext">When she was unable to play tennis because of her knee injuries, Buzarnescu decided to study Sports Science.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"When I had the first surgery before I stopped, I said that I didn't know exactly how it will be with the surgery, how it will be (with) the rehab, and if it will be good," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"So that's when I started the Ph D. And then it was three years, because I didn't play for two or three years. I finished it in 2016 when I was playing again.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm happy that I did it. My father also did it. I knew if I was not going to play tennis, maybe it would help me on my resume to have a job somewhere in Romania or abroad."</p>