They were already chanting her name during Saturday\u2019s warmups, and buoyed by that support, Sorana Cirstea soared swiftly and emphatically to victory.<\/p>\n
The No. 3-seeded Romanian was a 6-0, 6-2 winner over No. 1 Emma Raducanu on her way to the title at the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoc, Romania. It required only 63 minutes.<\/p>\n
It was a spectacular going-away present for the 35-year-old who has announced that 2026 will be her last season in professional tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone please pinch me, because this is a dream come true,\u201d Cirstea said afterward. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that I\u2019m holding the trophy as champion here in Cluj. I am so, so happy, I cannot describe it in words. I am so grateful for everything I lived this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I played a very, very good match against a tough opponent. The score isn\u2019t fair [considering] the level of the match. I\u2019m very, very happy with the trophy and I\u2019m going to enjoy this year as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cirstea becomes only the third Romanian woman to win a WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz title on home soil in the Open Era, joining Irina-Camelia Begu (Iasi 2025, Bucharest 2017) and Simona Halep (Bucharest 2014, 2016).<\/p>\n
It was Halep who handed her the winning trophy.<\/p>\n
Raducanu was playing in her first tour-level final since winning the 2021 US Open, where she was the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, today I didn\u2019t bring my best,\u201d Raducanu said afterward. \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s been a while since I gave one of these speeches.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to Sorana, you\u2019ve had a great week.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the fourth career title for Cirstea, who won in Cleveland last summer as a qualifier. That helped Cirstea complete her 10th\u00a0straight season among the Top 100.<\/p>\n
Previously, Cirstea was winless in two previous appearances in Cluj-Napoc, but this year she won all eight of the sets she played.<\/p>\n
Cirstea won the first set in 29 minutes, breaking Raducanu in all three of her service games and winning 30 of 45 points. Raducanu was plagued by unforced errors (19) and double faults (three) and hit only a single winner.<\/p>\n
After going down 2-0, Raducanu broke Cirstea back to collect her first game. After a medical timeout (a doctor took her blood pressure), Raducanu held to level it at 2-all.<\/p>\n
After holding, Cirstea broke Raducanu to take an insurmountable 4-2 lead. It ended on another double fault by Raducanu, her sixth of the match.<\/p>\n
Cirstea was scheduled to play the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, which begins play Sunday, but said her next tournament will likely be the WTA 1000 in Dubai.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is special for me,\u201d she concluded. \u201cIt\u2019s my last year after 20 years of being a professional athlete. I\u2019m going to retire a happy athlete because of this trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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