Emma Raducanu’s hopes of a first title since her US Open triumph in 2021 ended in misery as she was trounced by Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final.
The British number one, who was the top seed, was second best throughout the match as 35-year-old Cirstea surged to a 6-0 6-2 victory in front of her home crowd.
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Raducanu, 23, was on court for nearly three hours in her semi-final win over Oleksandra Oliynykova on Friday, but against third seed Cirstea she lasted just an hour and three minutes.
She managed to level the second set at 2-2 after having her blood pressure taken. However, the mini revival was not enough to stop Cirstea claiming the fourth WTA Tour title of her 20-year career in emphatic fashion.
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.
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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.
