Raducanu Loses to Krstea in Potential Retirement Upset

Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) lost 0-6 2-6 to Sorana Krstea on her home court in the final of the Romanian Transylvania Open.

Radukanu advanced to the singles finals of a tour tournament for the first time since winning the 2021 US Open, but finished in runner-up. He appeared to be fatigued after playing 5 games in a week, and after the 1st set, he took a medical timeout to check his blood pressure.

Although Radukanu missed the championship, his performance in this tournament added 153 ranking points and his world ranking rose five places. With this, Radukanu rose to 25th place, its highest ranking since August 2022.

Radukanu plans to put this defeat behind him and try to turn things around by participating in the Qatar Open.

Raducanu is fluent in Romanian due to the influence of his Romanian father. In an interview at the awards ceremony, she thanked her local fans in fluent Romanian. She responded to the enthusiastic support of her Romanian fans by saying, “I really felt at home here.” Her attitude and command of Romani completely captured the hearts of the Cluj-Napoca audience.

In an interview, Raducanu congratulated Krstea on her win and jokingly said, “You showed really great tennis this week. I don’t know if this is your last tournament in Cluj, but if it were me, I would retire at the best moment.”

Meanwhile, Sorana Krstea, who is in her retirement season, won her fourth WTA singles title in her career in front of her home country fans. Krstea showed a perfect performance in this tournament, not giving up a single set.

Krstea was disappointed with her nerves in front of the net after her match with Naomi Osaka (Japan) at the last Australian Open, but in this tournament, she achieved a touching victory with the enthusiastic support of the home crowd.

[기사제보 tennis@tennis.co.kr]

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