Emma Raducanu has reached her first ever final on the WTA Tour final and her first significant final since winning the US Open back in 2021. The woman standing in the way of the British star is Sorana Cirstea, whose comments referencing Kate Middleton caused a stir not that long ago. Raducanu, the top seed in the tournament, has dropped just one set en route to the final and overcame Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine in the semis. Cirstea, who is ranked 36th in the world, has gone one better and hasn’t dropped a single set so far.
Back in 2023, Romanian No.2 Cristea attracted backlash for a post she shared on an Instagram story. “Make men masculine again. Make women feminine again. Make children innocent again,” the text of the post read. Various gender equality groups across the world were offended by the post. Cirstea posted the content around the start of that year’s Wimbledon and was asked about if the following month, when she stood by her decision. Not only that but she invoked the Princess of Wales in her assessment.
“Honestly, that post, which was actually a repost of a message I had seen, fit the moment I was in,” Cirstea said. “I was at Wimbledon, and people generally know that it’s a tournament where the spectators are smartly dressed, there are certain rules that have to be followed.
“I had just seen, the day before, the Princess of Wales with such elegance and femininity and kindness…rarely had I felt such energy from someone. I was inspired by this post. They are principles that guide me as well.
“Likewise, the gentlemen were nicely dressed, civilized, in shirts, jackets, everyone was with their families, with children, who were innocent. They weren’t necessarily on the phones.”
If Raducanu is to beat Cirstea in the final in Cluj-Napoca, she will need to show she has put injury worries behind her. The Brit took a medical time-out during the first set of her semi-final after appearing to be troubled by her shoulder but managed to come through the physical and mental test against her Ukrainian opponent.
“It was a brutal match,” Raducanu said after reaching the final. “Ole, I mean, what a competitor.
“She made so many balls, she made so many balls tricky and when you think you’re ahead in the point, she turns it around with some really awkward shots. But credit to her, she competed when I was up in that second and I’m just most proud of how I fought and I competed myself and came back in that third set.”
She added: “I’m not used to playing four matches in a row and back to back. So for me, that’s an incredible thing and it just comes with the territory, I guess. But I haven’t really been in this position very often. So it’s just a bit of wear and tear that comes with back to back in the format of tennis.”