Raducanu Battles Into First Final Since 2021 US Open at Transylvania Open

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, February 6, 2026
Photo credit: Transylvania Open Facebook

Down a break in the decisive set, Emma Raducanu was in no mood to play the waiting game.

A resilient Raducanu won five of the final six games dispatching Oleksandra Oliynykova, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 battling into the Transylvania Open final today.

The top-seeded Raducanu, whose father, Ion, is Romanian, enjoyed strong support from Romanian fans chanting “Emma! Emma!” at times today. Raducanu will face third-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea in Saturday’s final.

Cirstea, who is playing her final season on Tour, crushed 144th-ranked Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur 6-0, 6-3 in today’s second semifinal which spanned just 56 minutes.

It is Raducanu’s first final in four-and-a-half years, since she defeated Leylah Fernandez to capture the 2021 US Open championship. Raducanu made history as the first player—male or female—to play through qualifying and win a Grand Slam singles championship.

“I’m so proud of how I competed, how I came back in the third set and how I managed the match,” said Raducanu, who snapped a streak of six straight decisive-set defeats.

“I don’t think I could have done it without everyone’s support here so thank you so much.”

Since then, Raducanu has struggled, at times, to recapture that Flushing Meadows form. The 23-year-old Briton has also cycled through coaches at the rate some players change racquets. Raducanu split with coach Francisco Roig after falling to Anastasia Potapova in the Australian Open second round last month. Roig was the ninth coach of Raducanu’s career. She said prior to that split she wanted to adopt a more assertive playing style.

“I think I want to be playing a different way, and I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something that I just want to work on,” Raducanu said in Melbourne Park. “I think there are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play, and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive, and maybe more than certain times in my career in the last few years. But it’s not how I want to be, like, consistently every day.

“So it’s not going to fall into place straight away, but the more I work on how I want to be playing, it will be more of my identity every time I step onto the court.”

Today, Raducanu broke for a 5-4 lead and held a set point serving at 5-4 only to see Oliynykova break right back.

Resetting, Raducanu rallied from 40-Love down in an epic 18-point game breaking back for 6-5.

Raducanu, who took an injury time-out to treat a shoulder issue, served out the opening set at love and was one set from the final.

Credit the crafty Oliynykova, who mixes slice, loopy moonballs and drives on the forehand with flater and faster backhand drives, for making a strong stand in the second set.

The 25-year-old Ukrainian hammered a forehand winner down the line breaking back for 3-all. Showing determined defense, Oliynykova fell down, regained her feet and still won the point. That effort helped her hold and edge ahead 4-3.

Contesting her first WTA hard-court semifinal, Oliynykova used the moon ball to disrupt Raducanu’s rhythm and break again for 5-3. 

Serving for the second set, the tattooed Ukrainian erased two break points then coaxed a couple of Raducanu errors to snatch the second set on a five-game run as the Briton was breathing heavily at times near the end of the set. The second set featured five service breaks.

The players left the court before the decisive set. Oliynykova roared through eight straight points breaking again for a 2-1 second-set lead.

At that point, Raducanu began to step in a bit more at times trying to take the Ukrainian’s moon balls on the rise from inside the baseline on pivotal points. Raducanu leaped to tap an overhead drop shot to break back in the fourth game before stamping a love hold for 3-2.

That sequence started a run that saw Raducanu reel off four games in a row to go up 5-2 and earn triple match point on the Ukrainian’s serve.

A tough-minded Oliynykova would not crack. She saved all three match points then wielded the unsettling drop shot-lob combination winner holding for 3-5 and shifting pressure right back on Raducanu’s shoulders.

When Raducanu lofted a lob wide she faced double break point at 15-40. Raducanu dispensed a dose of drop shot medicine to her opponent hitting successive backhand dropper winners to save both break points.

On her fourth match point, Raducanu coaxed a wide backhand and dropped her Wilson racquet to the court returning to her first final since 2021 Flushing Meadows.

It was Raducanu’s first three-set win since she defeated American Ann Li in three sets in Eastbourne last June.

Raducanu converted six of 12 break points in a two hour, 48-minute victory and now sets her sights on a second career championship.