Raducanu solves Oliynykova in Cluj-Napoca to make second career final
Four years and five months after her fairytale run from qualifying to US Open champion in 2021, Emma Raducanu has made her second career final on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. The No. 1 seed defeated Oleksandra Oliynykova 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in a grueling and tactically savvy Transylvania Open semifinal.
Raducanu led 3-1 in the second set before Oliynykova leveled the match with a run of five straight games. The Briton had to overturn a break deficit from 2-1 in the decider to seal victory in 2 hours and 48 minutes, but even in the home stretch had to hold off Oliynykova, who saved triple-match point serving down 5-2.
Cluj-Napoca: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Oliynykova, whose on-court joy, distinctive game and outspoken support for her war-torn home country of Ukraine have resonated with fans this season, received a standing ovation as she left the court -- with Raducanu joining in.
The result snapped a six-match losing streak in deciding sets for Raducanu, and marks the first time she has won a three-setter since defeating Ann Li 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 in the Eastbourne first round last June. She will face home hope and No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea, who defeated qualifier Daria Snigur 6-0, 6-3, as she bids for her second title. They have played once before, with Raducanu winning 6-3, 7-5 in the third round of Wimbledon 2021.
"What an incredible match," Raducanu said in her on-court interview. "All props to my opponent. Oli, she played incredible, she makes it so tricky to put any ball past her. You know, you think it's past her and then the ball is on your baseline or on your sideline, so it's just so difficult. Most proud of how I competed, how I came back in the third set, how I managed the match."
In her previous matches this week, Raducanu's unhesitating commitment to front-foot tennis had impressed. Following her second-round loss at the Australian Open to Anastasia Potapova, Raducanu spoke about the "misalignment" between the style she was playing and the game she wanted to deliver, and ahead of Cluj-Napoca she parted ways with coach Francisco Roig.
"At the end of the day, I just want to hit the ball to the corners and hard," she said in Melbourne. "I feel like I'm doing all this variety, and it's not doing what I want it to do. I need to just work on playing in a way more similar to how I was playing when I was younger. I always just changed direction, took the ball early, and went for it."
Oliynykova's game meant that Raducanu had to be more patient against the World No. 91. The 24-year-old repeatedly managed to place the ball in awkward spots on court with her web of slices and moonballs, pulling Raducanu out of position to create space for her own winning shots. And with her back to the wall, Oliynykova fought hardest.
Raducanu broke first in the opening set for 5-4, but had to navigate two multi-deuce tussles -- Oliynykova broke back, but Raducanu regained the lead for 6-5 -- before receiving treatment on her shoulder. On resumption, she delivered a spell of clean, error-free tennis to close out the set and move to 3-1 up in the second.
Flattening out her forehand, Oliynykova struck back, and found a purple patch where almost everything she touched turned into a hot shot: a defensive drop shot to end a lung-busting rally, a perfect lob. She took her momentum into the deciding set, breaking for 2-1 with a brilliant backhand pass and emphatic forehand winner.
But Oliynykova failed to press home her advantage, coming out on the wrong end of another lung-buster en route to getting broken back. Raducanu, successfully shortening the points for the first time, delivered a four-game run to reach 5-2.
Once again, Oliynykova found a series of hot shots -- including a pair of terrific lobs -- as she threatened another comeback. In the final game, the Raducanu drop shot proved crucial: from break point down, she found consecutive winners with that shot before converting her fourth match point as Oliynykova sent a backhand wide.
The match had been so hard-fought that Raducanu, whose father is Romanian, had even been overheard letting out an exhortation of "haide!" -- Romanian for "come on!" -- at one point.
"When the haides come out, it means that I'm getting really gritty," she said. "Since juniors, when it was really tight, it would just come out. That's when the true competitor comes out in me."