On the purple court in Cluj-Napoca, Raducanu looked tired and lacking in energy after her valiant effort to battle past Oliynykova in three sets.
Cirstea was sharper from the off, breaking Raducanu early and breezing through the rest of the first set to take it with a bagel.
The Romanian was 2-0 up in the second set when Raducanu finally put her first game on the board. She sat down slowly and called for medical attention, receiving words of encouragement from her trainer.
It looked like Raducanu’s final may come to a premature end, but she carried on with the match and took the next game to draw level.
However, Cirstea, who is in the final year of her career, regained control quickly and a double fault by Raducanu at championship point ended any hopes of the Briton winning a second senior trophy.
“Today I didn’t feel so good on the court, so that was a little bit disappointing for my first final after so long,” admitted Raducanu.
“But I also have to say, Sorana played an incredible match from the start and put so much pressure on me.”
While she is not used to playing four matches in a row, Raducanu added her journey to the final was “a step in the right direction”.