Raducanu well beaten in Transylvania Open final

Emma Raducanu's hopes of a first title since her US Open triumph in 2021 ended in disappointment as she was trounced by Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final.

The British number one, who was the top seed, was second best throughout the match as 35-year-old Cirstea surged to a 6-0 6-2 victory in front of her home crowd.

Raducanu, 23, was on court for nearly three hours in her semi-final win over Oleksandra Oliynykova on Friday, but against third seed Cirstea she lasted just an hour and three minutes.

She managed to level the second set at 2-2 after having her blood pressure taken. However, the mini revival was not enough to stop Cirstea claiming the fourth WTA Tour title of her 20-year career in emphatic fashion.

"I've already been battling a bit of a chest infection, but that [semi-final] match took it out of me extra," Raducanu told BBC Sport after the defeat. "So today, I was pretty gassed from the start.

"But I would much rather have this situation than have lost that match and not played today and be a part of the final.

"So for me, zero complaints."

On the purple court in Cluj-Napoca, Raducanu looked tired and lacking in energy after her valiant effort to battle past Oliynykova in three sets.

Cirstea was sharper from the off, breaking Raducanu early and breezing through the rest of the first set to take it with a bagel.

The Romanian was 2-0 up in the second set when Raducanu finally put her first game on the board. She sat down slowly and called for medical attention, receiving words of encouragement from her trainer.

It looked like Raducanu's final may come to a premature end, but she carried on with the match and took the next game to draw level.

However, Cirstea, who is in the final year of her career, regained control quickly and a double fault by Raducanu at championship point ended any hopes of the Briton winning a second senior trophy.

"Today I didn't feel so good on the court, so that was a little bit disappointing for my first final after so long," said Raducanu.

"But I also have to say, Sorana played an incredible match from the start and put so much pressure on me."

While she is not used to playing four matches in a row, Raducanu added her journey to the final was "a step in the right direction".

Raducanu had plenty of support in Romania, as her father, Ion, is from Bucharest, and she commented after the defeat that the crowd had made her "feel at home this week".

But securing her first silverware since that magical night in New York almost five years ago, when at the age of 18 she became the first qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam singles title, is proving difficult.

She has been plagued with injuries and has struggled to find consistency on the WTA Tour. In January, she split with her latest coach, Francis Roig, after a second-round exit from the Australian Open.

Spaniard Roig, whom she had been working with since last summer, was the ninth person to coach Raducanu since 2021.

She is next scheduled to play the opening WTA 1,000 tournament of the season in Qatar, which starts on Sunday, and has been drawn against Colombia's Camila Osorio in the first round.