Emma Raducanu is one win from a first tournament final since her US Open triumph in 2021 after continuing her comfortable progression through the Transylvania Open draw on Thursday.
The British No1 has taken full advantage of a weak field at this WTA 250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. With the status of top seed, she has reached the semi-finals without dropping a set against opposition ranked no higher than No97 in the world.
A 6-0, 6-4 quarter-final win over Maja Chwalinska, a Polish qualifier ranked No146, has set up Raducanu with her best opportunity yet to reach a second final on the WTA Tour. On Friday she faces Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova, the world No91 who knocked out China’s Xinyu Wang, ranked No33.
Raducanu, 23, has fallen short in her three previous semi-finals but will surely be confident this time after a series of strong performances this week. In total she has lost 14 games across three matches, recording two 6-0 sets in the process.
This is an encouraging run at her first tournament since last week’s split with her coach Francisco Roig. It has been noticeable here that she is now trying to adopt a more instinctive attacking approach to her game, showing no hesitation to step in and hit the ball with pace when the opportunity arises.
When Raducanu is in full flow like this, it can be overwhelming for opponents further down the rankings. Essentially she has taken on players of a second-tier standard this week, allowing her the chance to hit freely without the pressure of taking on stars such as Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina.
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Nonetheless, Raducanu has done well to build some momentum after a disappointing second-round exit at the Australian Open. The last time she won three consecutive matches was last July during her run to the semi-finals of the Washington Open.
Watched by her hitting partner, Alexis Canter, a former British player, Raducanu was particularly impressive in the first set, making only three unforced errors over the course of 25 minutes. There was a brief blip in the second set when she dropped her serve at 3-2 up, but she quickly recovered her composure to close out the victory.
“I’m very happy with my performance,” Raducanu said. “I played a great match from the beginning and I was pleased I could get off to that stat. Of course, there’s always moments of adversity to overcome and I did that pretty well in the second set.
“I feel very happy to be in the semi finals,” she added. “It’s been a few months since I reached a semi [seven], so it means a lot to be in this position. The hard work I’ve been putting in this past week is paying off.”
She is now projected to move up three spots to No27 in the world rankings on Monday and would go as high as No25 if she were to win the title on Saturday. Crucially this would put her on the brink of the top 24, a very achievable goal to have for June, which would guarantee she avoids a match against top-eight players until the fourth round of Wimbledon.
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Raducanu is one of two British female players in the semi-finals of a WTA tour event this week after Katie Boulter reached the same stage of the Ostrava Open.
Boulter, 29, struggled for consistency last season and plunged down the rankings to No120, but will re-enter the top 100 if she goes on to win a fourth title this week. She plays Katie Volynets, the world No96 from the United States, on Friday after seeing off Linda Fruhvirtova, the world No121, 6-3, 6-2.
Sonay Kartal failed to take a golden opportunity at the Abu Dhabi Open to make it a hat-trick of British semi-finalists. The world No61 was thrashed 6-0, 6-2 by Sara Bejlek, a Czech opponent ranked 40 places lower.
Draper looks sharp in comeback after five months out
Jack Draper marked his return to action from a five-month absence in style. Contesting his first match since the US Open last August, the 24-year-old needed only 58 minutes to defeat Viktor Durasovic 6-2, 6-2 in the opening rubber of Great Britain’s Davis Cup qualifier away to Norway.
Draper showed no signs of any lingering discomfort from the arm injury that stalled his progress last year and served well throughout the match. Admittedly it was not the toughest of tests, given that Durasovic is ranked a lowly No313.
Draper beat Durasovic in 58 minutes during Great Britain’s Davis Cup qualifier in Oslo
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“I haven’t played Davis Cup in a long time so it’s good to be here and proud of my performance today,” Draper said.
“It’s been a really difficult time since I’ve been away from the sport. I knew I had to keep on practising my hardest and learn about myself. That’s the hard work no-one sees. Hopefully I am able to play some top tennis again.”
Britain only need one win from Friday’s three rubbers — a doubles and two reverse singles — to go through to September’s second phase after Cameron Norrie put the visiting team 2-0 ahead with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.
