MADRID, Spain – Simona Halep leads the pack as a record four Romanians advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open – can the last seed standing seize the moment? We preview all the quarterfinal action here on wtatennis.com.

Thursday, Quarterfinals

[6] Simona Halep (ROU #7) vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #34)
Head-to-head: Halep leads 3-0
Key Stat: Halep has never lost a set to Begu.

When the No.6 seed Simona Halep landed in the Spanish capital, she was surrounded by questions: Had she recovered from the ankle injury that thwarted her Stuttgart campaign? Would her health hold up? Could she replicate her 2014 run to the Madrid final?

The Romanian’s dominating performances in her last three matches say the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ She’s feeling right at home in Madrid and leads a pack of four Romanians who have advanced to this stage.

“It’s a Romanian tournament, I can say,” Halep joked in her press conference. “I feel like home here. I feel good always. I have great memories from 2014. I just try to make it best tournament for myself. I try just to enjoy it, because I like it very much.”

Halep is up against a familiar opponent in the No.34-ranked Irina-Camelia Begu: despite only playing three WTA matches against each other, the two Romanians have known each other for a long time.

“I expect a tough match,” Halep said. “She plays well on clay. Last year she did quarterfinals here, so [that] means that she likes the court.

“But the match is open, so I have just to try to get my chance and to fight for it, because I really want to go through.”

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #38) vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU #127)
Head-to-head: Cibulkova leads 3-1
Key Stat: Madrid is Cirstea’s career first Premier Mandatory quarterfinal.

The oldest Romanian of the bunch, 26-year-old Sorana Cirstea made good on a wildcard to reach her career first Premier Mandatory quarterfinal. And she’s done so in emphatic fashion, not dropping a set in the three matches she’s played to get to this stage.

“I think that’s amazing,” Cirstea told WTA Insider of her country’s representation in Madrid. “Four girls in the quarterfinals means half of the girls are Romanians, which I think is impressive coming from a country like Romania.

“I think everyone knows we don’t have a system or anything. We were each separate and trying to find a way. I think it’s amazing that we are one of the biggest forces now in tennis.”

Cirstea, a former No.21, saw her promising career be derailed by a shoulder injury in 2014 – she dropped out of the Top 240 late last fall. But now fit and healthy, she faces another player on the comeback trail in the Slovak Dominika Cibulkova. ­

The former Australian Open finalist has found her form again after recovering from an Achilles injury: she’s reached the final at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel and took home the title at the Katowice Open.

So far in Madrid she’s faced a sterner test – and spent more time on court – than Cirstea on her road to the quarterfinals. All of her matches have gone to three sets, and in her very first match she was drawn against the tournament’s top seed, Agnieszka Radwanska.

Also in action: Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig is in for her biggest test yet against Sam Stosur. After powering past young guns Daria Kasatkina, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, Tig now faces the veteran Australian for her first ever semifinal spot at a Premier Mandatory event. Meanwhile, American qualifier Louisa Chirico and big hitting Australian Daria Gavrilova will open the day’s action on Court Arantxa Sanchez. Both of these young players have advanced to this stage against all odds – Chirico upset the No.14 seed Ana Ivanovic and moved past Victoria Azarenka via a walkover to reach the quarterfinals, while Gavrilova ousted the defending champion Petra Kvitova in the last round.