Emma Raducanu: British No 1 suffers heavy defeat to Romania's Sorana Cirstea in Transylvania Open final

Emma Raducanu's hopes of winning her maiden WTA Tour title were ended in the Transylvania Open final by veteran Sorana Cirstea, but there was title success for Katie Boulter at the Ostrava Open.

Raducanu had a shot at winning her first tournament since her incredible US Open success in 2021 and announcing herself as a real force on the WTA Tour.

But her hopes were shattered in a 6-0 6-2 defeat in Cluj-Napoca, where support was evenly split between home favourite Cirstea and Raducanu, whose father is Romanian.

Boulter claimed her fourth WTA title with a superb 5-7 6-2 6-1 victory against German Tamara Korpatsch in the Czech Republic.

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"I want to thank the public. You really made me feel at home this week. Sorry today I couldn't bring my best. But congratulations as well to Sorana - you've had an incredible week. I think you're playing great tennis. I don't know if this is your last tournament in Cluj here, but I know if it was me I'd be out on a high. Congrats for everything," said Raducanu.

"Honestly it's been a while since I've given one of these speeches. I want to thank [coach] Alexis [Canter] and the people back home who've supported me throughout the last few years. It's been like four or five years since my last final. It means a lot. I'm really happy it's here in Cluj."

Raducanu had defeated Greet Minnen before recovering from 5-0 down in the first set to beat Slovenian Kaja Juvan. She then bossed her way into the semi-finals with a straight-sets demolition of Poland's Maja Chwalinska.

She was physically shattered and needed treatment for a problem to her right shoulder after a near three-hour battle with Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova in the semi-finals.

The 23-year-old appeared mentally drained from the very start of the match, eventually losing her opening service game having saved five break points, and she went on to lose the opening set without winning a game in just 29 minutes.

After losing a fourth successive service game to fall 2-0 down in the second set, Raducanu broke Cirstea to love to win her first game but looked drained and immediately slumped on her seat with her blood pressure subsequently taken by the tournament doctor.

She recovered to then hold her serve for the first time to level it up at 2-2, but she could not maintain her momentum as 35-year-old Cirstea, playing in her final season on the WTA Tour - her 20th year as a professional - regrouped to take the next three games and lead 5-2.

Raducanu appeared to have nothing left in the tank and looked unsteady on her feet. She served to stay in the match and in the next game she lost her serve for a sixth time as Cirstea took the title.

The Briton will take positives from this week heading into the Qatar Open, where she is scheduled to play qualifier Camila Osorio in the first round on Monday.

Commentator Jonathan Overend, speaking on Sky Sports Tennis:

"For Emma Raducanu, it was a day to forget! A really tough semi-final of two hours and 48 minutes meant she had very little offer today. Some of her best tennis was when she was losing games. It looked like she knew the way she had to play today but there was too much power coming at her from Cirstea and she just wasn't able to get on the board."

'Raducanu needed matches in the bank'

Miles Maclagan, former coach of Laura Robson and Andy Murray:

"It was a combination of issues. It was the perfect start from Sorana Cirstea. She came out full of purpose, full of aggression and it worked for her. There were some moments there when Raducanu could have just worked her way into the match and created a little more stress for Cirstea, but even with the way those first eight games just flashed by, she got it back to 2-2 in the second but that fifth game was significant.

"If Cirstea hadn't been able to pull herself through, things might have changed? It didn't seem fatigue but some sort of physical issue for Raducanu by the end. She wasn't chasing balls but it's a positive week. Anytime you get to a final, you put those back-to-back matches behind you, I just feel that's what Raducanu needs.

"There have been so many injuries, so much chopping and changing of coaches, a little bit of consistency and belief. You need to put those matches in the bank to start to trust your body, to trust your decision-making in tougher circumstances so when the dust settles, there will be positives."

Brilliant Boulter wins in Ostrava

Boulter captured her first title in over 15 months with a comeback win over Korpatsch.

After losing a tight first set, Boulter battled back brilliantly to defeat the German with victory moving her 36 up the rankings and back inside the top 100 having plummeted down the rankings after a disappointing 2025.

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