Emma Raducanu missed the opportunity to win her first WTA title since 2021 in the Transylvania Open final, losing at the hands of Sorana Cirstea in straight sets. The young Brit went into the match looking for only her second piece of silverware, having been on a trophy drought since winning the US Open five years ago. However, she was brutally swept aside by her Romanian opponent, who claimed a 6-0 6-2 victory in just 63 minutes.
Cirstea made it clear that she was up for the occasion from the very start, winning every point of the first game of the match. She followed up by breaking Raducanu, who struggled to get into her groove in the opening exchanges. Her opponent completed another routine hold in game three before breaking for the second time and winning another on serve, leaving Raducanu powerless to avoid going five games behind.
She came within a point of getting on the board in the final game of the opening set but was denied yet again, with Cirstea securing her third break and a bagel as Raducanu double-faulted.
It was more of the same in second set as Cirstea drew first blood before winning another break point, with Raducanu still yet to get herself up and running.
There was a rare blip for the Romanian as she double-faulted at the start of the next game, giving her British rival a way in as she finally won her first game of the match to avoid the double-bagel.
Eventually, she was able to continue and held serve to level the second set at two games each. However, normal service quickly resumed as Cirstea regained the upper hand and moved ahead.
She quickly won another game to move within touching distance of the title and made light work of Raducanu to break her once more, wrapping up the match in style as the Brit double-faulted yet again.
It was a comprehensive result for Cirstea, who will retire from professional tennis at the end of the season. She was able to celebrate in front of her home fans after storming to victory in brutal fashion.
Raducanu, meanwhile, only won two games throughout the entire match and produced four double-faults on a day to forget.
Alexis Canter has been enlisted to help Raducanu on a temporary basis and was in attendance for her defeat to Cirstea. It’s not clear if he will remain in the 23-year-old’s corner for the Qatar Open, which gets underway later this month.