Emma Raducanu produces clinical display to reach Transylvania Open semi-finals

Emma Raducanu took a step closer towards her first final since her US Open triumph after storming into the semi-finals of the Transylvania Open.

If Raducanu’s critics feared her game would take a dip after ditching her most recent coach, the 23-year-old answered them emphatically with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Poland’s Maja Chwalinska.

In her third match since parting ways with Francis Roig after the Australian Open, Raducanu, who is the top seed at this WTA 250 event, played with uninhibited freedom and flair to set up a semi-final showdown with Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova.

Raducanu has been the top seed at four previous WTA tournaments throughout her career, but has never been able to finish any of them with a trophy. Having dropped just 14 games all week in Romania, the country of her father’s birth, she is in fine shape to finally break that streak.

After winning 11 games in a row against Kaja Juvan on Wednesday, Raducanu made it 19 in 20 before Chwalinska finally got on the scoreboard at the start of the second set. 

Following the opening set bagel, Chwalinska, the world number No 146 upped her game and Raducanu’s level dropped slightly as the match became more competitive. Just when it seemed Raducanu would run away with the match after breaking to lead 3-2, Chwalinska broke straight back. However, Raducanu made it three breaks in row to lead 4-3 and comfortably served out the match.

“I’m very happy with my performance. I played a great match from the beginning and I was pleased I could get off to that start,” said Raducanu, who finished her on-court interview in Romanian. “Of course, there’s always moments of adversity to overcome and I did that pretty well in the second set.”

Full report to follow…