Seasoned Hometown Favorite Prevails Over Former U.S. Open Champ in Transylvania Open
Romanian star Sorana Cirstea denied Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open Champion, a second career title by defeating her in the WTA 250 Transylvania Open Final. Despite not having any other titles, Raducanu was seeded first in this tournament. Cirstea, who has announced that she will retire in 2026 after 20 years on tour, was third-ranked and has three career titles to her name. The two players have faced each other once before, during the early rounds of Wimbledon in 2021 on grass, where Raducanu won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, during a standout year for her.
Playing Styles
Cirstea is 12 years her opponent’s senior at age 36, but her strength, speed, and movement would truly never tell you as much. She’s incredibly fierce and flits about the baseline endlessly, supporting her heavy shots from any angle necessary. A grinder’s game, only the intensity hardly ever wanes, and her shots reach deep, keeping pressure on her opponent throughout. The third-seed goes on the defensive only when she absolutely has to, and can handle herself on all ends of the court. Her serves are strong, and her tenacity sees that she wins those points no matter what. She plays a psychological game too; it’s jarring when a 36-year-old doesn’t look even a bit tired and still moves almost as strongly as she did at the start of the match.
This wasn’t helpful for Raducanu, who was already exhausted from her previous match against Ukrainian player Oleksandra Oliynykova, which lasted for two hours and 48 minutes. Despite her visible exhaustion and a recent coaching change, the Brit fought well. For the time she had energy, her groundstrokes were solid, either keeping the Romanian at bay or sending her running, all good stuff for her to craft points. Her service was impressive for a spell and even outdid Cirstea's first-serve percentage, getting roughly 69% to the Romanian’s 51%. Yet, that was far from enough, as the Brits’ game truly boils down to simply getting the ball back in. No bells or whistles, she can survive at the net a bit when brought there, but her game is a survivor’s one. She lacks the finishers, the endurance, and the speed that other consistency-based players have, which help them win.
How Cirstea Made the Game Hers
It’s always a dream to win at home, and the third-seed certainly wasn’t going to let this fleeting opportunity go. Cirstea remained in attack mode the entirety of the match, going for broke on all points. Her first serve was incredible, but her offensive game, how she played out her serve plus one, truly gave her gold; she won 84% of her first serve points, hit six aces, and was broken only once. The perfect type of tennis to be played, where your serve is uncontested, and the opponent is forced to defend their own. Rallies were short, not because she hit winners, but because Cirstea smacked every ball with all her might as far as she could from her opponent, daring her to start the point and contest it. She couldn’t keep up for long. Cirstea has many more ahead of her in her final professional year of tennis. Today, she got both her hometown title and revenge against a Grand Slam Champion, defeating her in only an hour and three minutes, 6-0, 6-2.
