Tired Raducanu falls to Cirstea in Transylvanian Open

Emma Raducanu’s hopes of a first title win since her US Open victory in 2021 floundered  as she was thrashed 6-0,6-2 by Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final.

The British number one was the top seed, but she was no match for 35-year-old Cirstea who raced to a straight sets victory in front of her home crowd.

This was in stark contrast to her semi-final when she was on court for nearly three hours to beat Oleksandra Oliynykova. but against third seed Cirstea she lasted just over an hour..

Having been bagelled in the first set Rauducanu managed to level the second set at 2-2 after having her blood pressure taken as a mandatory precaution.

Cirstea quickly went on to claim the fourth WTA Tour title of her 20-year career, in this her final year on the tour.

After defeat Raducanu said “I’ve already been battling a bit of a chest infection, but that [semi-final] match took it out of me so today, I was pretty gassed from the start.”

“But I would much rather have this situation than have lost that match and not played today and be a part of the final.

“So for me, zero complaints.”