Emma Raducanu's hopes of winning her maiden WTA Tour title were ended in the Transylvania Open final by veteran Sorana Cirstea.

The British No 1 had a shot at winning her first tournament since her incredible US Open success in 2021 and announcing herself as a real force on the WTA Tour.

But her hopes were shattered in a 6-0 6-2 defeat in Cluj-Napoca, where support was evenly split between home favourite Cirstea and Raducanu, whose father is Romanian.

Raducanu looked physically shattered after a near three-hour battle with Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova in the semi-finals.

And the 23-year-old appeared mentally drained from the very start of the match against 35-year-old Cirstea and lost the first set without winning a game in just 29 minutes.

Raducanu had defeated Greet Minnen before recovering from 5-0 down in the first set to beat Slovenian Kaja Juvan. She then bossed her way into the semi-finals with a straight-sets demolition of Poland's Maja Chwalinska.

World No 36 Cirstea, playing in her final season on the WTA Tour - her 20th year as a professional - broke to win the first game of second set but Raducanu gained her composure to hit back immediately and avoid the dreaded double bagel.

However, she looked drained and immediately slumped on her seat with her blood pressure subsequently taken by her medial team.

Raducanu looked unsteady and some wayward hitting allowed Cirstea to regain the lead in the sixth game and move two games away from victory.

The Briton was broken once again with Cirstea closing out the win, but Raducanu will take positives from this week heading into the Qatar Open where she is scheduled to play qualifier Camila Osorio in the first round on Monday.

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