Emma Raducanu is not one to rest on her laurels. To anyone who wondered where her priorities lie after her fairytale run to the US Open title, a victory that sparked a raft of celebrity encounters and lucrative endorsement deals, Raducanu offered a telling response following her 6-3, 6-4 win over Ana Bogdan at the Transylvania Open.
Asked what it was like rubbing shoulders with Daniel Craig at the premiere of the new James Bond film, Raducanu managed to namecheck a sponsor while stressing that, fun though such experiences are, her focus is on professional development. It was a pitch-perfect response from a woman represented by Max Eisenbud, the IMG agent who oversaw Maria Sharapova’s rise to fame and fortune.
“I’m just trying to get out on the court and practice and improve,” said the 18-year-old. “The court is where I really focus on my trade and really improve and enjoy.”
If further proof were needed that Raducanu is more interested in looking to the future than living off precocious past glories, it came in the form of the revelation that she has gifted her US Open trophy to the Lawn Tennis Association in recognition of the British governing body’s contribution to her success.
“It’s stored at the National Tennis Centre, I’m pretty sure, in London,” said Raducanu, whose second tour-level win moves her into the quarter-finals in Cluj-Napoca. “If you want to see it, it’s at the NTC. I just thought that the LTA have done so much for me, and I just wanted them to have it as a sign and a big thank you for everything that they’ve done for me, helping me through the young ages. They played a huge role in my development, so it’s a little gift.”
There were no such gifts for Bogdan. The Romanian’s tireless running and ability to turn defence into attack belie her current ranking of 106, but she fell some way short of threatening an upset against the third-seeded Raducanu. Raised in the Romanian mountain town of Sinaia, Bogdan spent her formative years dreaming of a career as a professional skier. The 28-year-old still hits the slopes when her schedule allows, and credits the sport with developing her balance and lower-body strength, qualities evident in her resilient baseline game. When she middles her backhand, as she did in the opening game of the match, where she fashioned three break points, Bogdan has a weapon to trouble the best. Yet she lacks the firepower possessed by Polona Hercog, the Slovenian who so troubled Raducanu in the first round, and having battled to a hold the Briton was quickly into her stride.
A love break in the second game set the tone for a one-sided opening set, the excellence of Raducanu’s return game and her superior weight of shot proving formidable assets in the slow conditions of the BT Arena. Having struggled on serve at times against Hercog, there was a notable improvement here, Raducanu landing more than two out of every three first serves and winning 87% of the points when she did so. She sustained her momentum going into the second set, claiming an early break, but in the fourth game Bogdan raised her intensity, unsettling the teenager with some ferocious ball-striking and dogged retrieving to get back on serve.
When Bogdan won a third successive game, Raducanu spurning a break point as a drilled backhand return missed the sideline by a whisker, the gauntlet was down. Forget forehands and backhands, it was now a test of Raducanu’s mental fortitude. Her response was emphatic. Crushing the ball off both wings, she calmly compiled a three-game sequence of her own, successfully negotiating a 12-minute game at 3-3 to claim her third break of the match with a sweeping crosscourt backhand. At 5-4, she served out to love.
“On the run she was coming out with shots that were landing on the baseline at times,” said Raducanu, who will play Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian sixth seed. “I was like, ‘How is she getting the ball back again?’ But I think I managed to stay patient and keep going. In the end, I thought I served it out pretty well. In general, I think my serve helped me quite a lot in this match.”
In the 55th-ranked Kostyuk, she will face a fellow teenager and old foe. “She absolutely destroyed me in the juniors every single time, so it will be an interesting match,” said Raducanu, whose potential reward for reaching the last four could be a first meeting with Simona Halep, her childhood idol. “She was playing full-time and practising, on the road, from a very young age. She developed a lot of skills doing that. I kind of came from behind and caught up this year. I think she’s a great mover and great athlete. The match-up is going to be pretty different because we’ve both come a long way since that young age.”
Halep, the top seed, overcame a back problem to see off Varvara Gracheva of Russia 6-2, 6-4. Second seed Anett Kontaveit, fresh from her victory at the Kremlin Cup, also came through, defeating Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 6-4 to sustain her push for a place at the season-ending WTA Finals in Guadalajara.