In final year on tour, Sorana Cirstea wins home title over Emma Raducanu in Cluj-Napoca

Sorana Cirstea kicked her farewell season into high gear at the Transylvania Open, winning her home tournament, 6-0, 6-2 over top seed Emma Raducanu.

The third-seeded 35-year-old, who previously announced that 2026 would be her final year on tour, stormed to her fourth career WTA singles title without dropping a set. Saving her best performance for last, she dropped a first-set bagel on the former US Open champion before securing the win in 63 minutes on Center Court.

A former world No. 21, Cirstea has displayed remarkable consistency over 20 years on tour, reaching two WTA quarterfinals and finishing 16 seasons ranked inside the Top 100. Her final Australian Open ended in emotional fashion when she lashed out at former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka at the net over perceived gamesmanship, but the Romanian was eager to turn the page in her post-match press conference.

“I never thought I would play for such a long time,” Cirstea said back in January. “I'm very, very grateful to have had such a long career. Of course, a little bit disappointed about tonight. I thought I could have done things better, but only one player can win, and she managed to do that better at the end.”

Cirstea took advantage of every opportunity in front of her in Cluj-Napoca, dethroning defending champion Anastasia Potapova in the quarterfinals and allowing Ukrainian Daria Snigur just three games in the semifinals.

Standing between the veteran and the title was the top-seeded Raducanu, who was playing her first final since her 2021 US Open victory. Ironically, Raducanu and Cirstea’s last match was also in 2021, when the Brit stunned Cirstea en route to her first major breakthrough at that year’s Wimbledon Championships.

Raducanu overcame numerous injuries and inconsistencies to put together a career resurgence in 2025, finishing the season inside the Top 30. Shaking off a second-round exit from this year’s Australian Open, Raducanu, who has Romanian heritage, hit the ground running in Cluj-Napoca. She overcame a 0-5 deficit in her second round against Kaja Juvan and navigated three sets against surprise semifinalist Oleksandra Oliynykova, but struggled to find her range against Cirstea, who won the first eight games of the match.

Raducanu snapped the run of games against her with a break of serve but took a medical timeout over the ensuing changeover as coach Alex Canter encouraged her to play on.

Play on she did, and Raducanu leveled the second set at two games apiece but Cirstea got back in front as the top seed threatened to win a third game in a row. The No. 3 seed kept pressing and earned another break advantage, holding comfortably to put herself a game from victory.

Earning two championship points on Raducanu's serve, Cirstea converted the first off a double fault from her overmatched opponent—clinching an emotional victory in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.