Not this time.
Emma Raducanu was well beaten in the Transylvania Open final on Saturday in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2 losing to Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
The loss dashed her hopes of a first title since her US Open triumph in 2021.
The British number one, who was the top seed at the Transylvania Open, was second best throughout the match as 35-year-old Cirstea surged to a 6-0 6-2 victory in an hour and three minutes.
Raducanu, 23, was on court for nearly three hours in her semi-final win over Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova on Friday.
Raducanu managed to level the second set at 2-2 after having her blood pressure taken. However, it was not enough to stop Cirstea winning the fourth WTA Tour title of her 20-year career in style.
“I’ve already been battling a bit of a chest infection, but that (semi-final) match took it out of me extra,” Raducanu told BBC Sport after the defeat. “So today, I was pretty gassed from the start.
“But I would much rather have this situation than have lost that match and not played today and be a part of the final.
Raducanu looked tired and lacking in energy on court after her dogged efforts to beat Oliynykova in three sets.
Cirstea was sharper from the get-go, breaking Raducanu early and breezing through the rest of the first set.
Cirstea was 2-0 up in the second set when Raducanu finally put her first game on the board. She sat down slowly and called for medical attention, receiving words of encouragement from her trainer.
It looked like Raducanu’s final may finally end, but she carried on with the match and took the next game to draw level.
However, Cirstea, who is in the final year of her career, regained control quickly and a double fault by Raducanu at championship point ended any hopes of the Briton winning a second senior trophy.
“Today I didn’t feel so good on the court, so that was a little bit disappointing for my first final after so long,” she said. “But I also have to say, Sorana played an incredible match from the start and put so much pressure on me.”
Raducanu had plenty of support on court as her father, Ion, is a Romanian from Bucharest. After the defeat, she said the crowd had made her “feel at home this week.”
Still being the runner up was a consolation prize after almost five years ago in New York at the age of 18 she became the first qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam singles title.
She has been plagued with injuries and has struggled to find consistency on the WTA Tour. In January, she dumped her coach Francis Roig, after a second-round exit from the Australian Open.
