“I couldn’t do anything”: Emma Raducanu accepts abrupt defeat as ranking rises again

A dream week for Emma Raducanu came to an abrupt end in barely an hour in the final of the Transylvania Open, as she fell to local favourite Sorana Cirstea 0–6, 2–6. It was Raducanu’s first final since winning the title at the 2021 US Open, but she was far from the level she had shown throughout an otherwise outstanding week - arriving as the top seed and imposing her favouritism in previous rounds.

On her way to the final, she had claimed straight-sets victories over opponents such as Greet Minnen, Kaja Juvan and Maja Chwalinska. The semifinals posed a far tougher challenge, from which she emerged victorious against Ukrainian sensation Oleksandra Oliynykova in three sets and nearly three hours of battle. Against Cirstea, Raducanu appeared to be the favourite, but instead ran into a rival who gave her no chances and was determined to become the first local player to be crowned champion in Cluj-Napoca.

“Today was obviously really tough. Sorana played a great match, for sure,” Raducanu said in her press conference. “I’ve been dealing with some health issues and just not feeling great this week. Yesterday was obviously a battle, and today I felt quite tired. I just need to try to rest as best as possible.”

“But honestly, I couldn’t do anything against Sorana today. She was playing incredible tennis and has been all week. I can’t praise her enough — how good she’s been and how nice of a person she is. It’s great to have someone like her around on the tour.”

Despite everything, Raducanu’s strong week gives her a boost in the rankings, and on Monday she will rise to World No. 25, her best ranking since August 2022 (precisely before losing the points from her US Open campaign). The Brit will travel quickly to Doha in search of maintaining her level at the first WTA 1000 of the year, the Qatar Open.

It was a special tournament for Raducanu, considering that her father — Ion Raducanu — was born in Bucharest, Romania. The player herself is fluent in Romanian, and for that reason her stay at the Transylvania Open came with particularly strong support from the local crowd, who had her among their favourites and treated her almost as another home player within the draw.

“I felt at home the whole week. The support was great, even today,” commented the former world No. 10. “I was playing Sorana, and of course they were cheering for her, which I expected, but I think they were very fair. I really enjoyed it.”

The tournament featured the presence of Simona Halep as ambassador, and she closely followed the matches on Centre Court throughout the week. She even took part in the trophy ceremony, personally handing the trophy to champion Sorana Cîrstea. The former world No. 1 also spent time interacting with the players at the event, and Raducanu herself acknowledged that Halep was the player she admired most when she was younger.

“Obviously, playing here and meeting Simona (Halep) was very special,” she added regarding her encounter with the two-time Grand Slam champion. “She’s been my idol since I was a kid. I didn’t really have time to talk to her, but I get really shy and nervous when I see her. I feel like a kid again. It’s so cool to see her and to play in front of her. She’s inspired me and so many people here.”

Despite the loss, Raducanu was satisfied with her performance throughout the week and with the direction her career is taking. Even though five years have passed since her previous final — the historic US Open title — Raducanu turned just 23 years old in November 2025 and knows she still has many years ahead of her career, during which she believes the best tennis of her life is yet to come.

“I think my game is better. I think I’ve made progress and that I’ve been doing the right work over the past couple of weeks. I’m really happy with the way my game was trending,” the British No. 1 added. “Today is tough to take a fair assessment from, but overall I feel like it’s going in the right direction. I still think there’s a long way to go, but I’m really happy to have seen some rewards for doing things the right way.”

Raducanu’s next event will be the Qatar Open, where she already knows her first-round opponent: the always tricky Camila Osorio, whom she has defeated in both of their previous meetings. In fact, they faced each other earlier this season at the Hobart Open, where Raducanu opened her campaign with a first-round victory, winning 6–3, 7–6(2).