Transylvania Open Final Round-up | Emma Raducanu battered in clinical display by Sorana Cirstea who triumphs on home soil

Emma Raducanu's wait for a first WTA title since the 2021 US Open continues after a poor performance in the 2026 Transylvania Open final against Sorana Cirstea, who performed to a high level to win 6-0, 6-2 in just 63 minutes on court.

Cirstea went into the final in blistering form, taking down the reigning champion Anastasia Potapova in the last-eight before dropping just three games in her semi-final triumph. She wasted no time in getting out of the blocks, winning the opening seven games against a struggling Raducanu.

Injury could have been the reason for this Raducanu demise, who was seen by the doctors in the second set before getting on the board. A decisive break to make it 4-2 looked like it had sealed the deal for Cirstea, who saw it out with ease. She takes home a fourth WTA title in her final season, with Raducanu losing a first ever WTA final in woeful fashion.

From the off, it looked like that Raducanu would be on the back foot. Cirstea won the first seven points of the match, holding before creating three break point chances early on. The Brit recovered those points, but on the sixth break opportunity Cirstea was there to pounce and took the early advantage.

Another hold from the Romanian put her halfway to sealing the first set, and she took a large step in the right direction with another gritty break with sloppy errors from Raducanu mixed with some quality from Cirstea keeping the 35-year-old motoring away. A double fault from Raducanu culminated the first set, summing up a really poor opening set for the British number one.

The second set continued in the same trend. Cirstea held to love as she smashed a big ace down the line. Another break point was clinically taken after some quality tennis by the home favourite, but Raducanu was finally able to get the set levelled.

There were concerning signs for her, with the physio and doctor coming on to examine Raducanu. She was deemed fit enough to continue, with a comeback firmly on her mind.

The injury did not seem to bother her too much as she got back on level terms. Cirstea made hard work of re-taking the lead of the set before a much more convincing break looked like to be the nail in the coffin of Raducanu’s title charge in Cluj.

A hold t love put the world number 32 one away, and she had no trouble in seeing out a hugely popular title in Romania. A sixth double fault from Raducanu seals the championship on home soil. She rises to world number 31 in the WTA rankings, but it is huge disappointment for Raducanu whose long wait for a WTA title continues.