Steve Johnson still finds it hard to wrap his head around what’s unfolded in Emma Raducanu’s career so far.
Raducanu made it to the Transylvania Open final, but couldn’t clinch the title, falling in straight sets to Sorana Cirstea.
Even with the loss, she still saw a boost in her WTA ranking. After her defeat in Cluj-Napoca, Johnson commented on a stat about Raducanu that he called “crazy.”
Steve Johnson shares why he’s baffled by Emma Raducanu’s career path
Raducanu, who famously won the US Open back in 2021, hadn’t appeared in another final until her recent run at the Transylvania Open.
Speaking about this on the Nothing Major podcast, Sam Querrey said he was caught off guard by that fact, while John Isner and Johnson also chimed in on her unusual career trajectory.
“I found this a little surprising,” said Querrey. “This is only the second final of Raducanu’s career.”
Isner replied: “There are not many comps for Raducanu’s career thus far. Just a big US Open final out of nowhere coming through qualies, wins it and then doesn’t make a final again for four years.”
Johnson followed up: “2021 US Open and this are her only two finals on Tour, which is crazy. It is crazy. She kind of has done her career backwards. She came on to the scene, won the biggest tournament of her career first and has now had the growing pains after.
“It’s good to be in the final but it’s crazy she has not been in another final since the 2021 US Open.”
Cirstea was a deserving winner as she produced one of her best matches for quite some time against Raducanu.
This happened again last week against Cirstea as she got blown away once again by a player ranked inside WTA top 30.
What’s next on the schedule for Emma Raducanu?
Despite not feeling her best during the Transylvania Open, Raducanu made the trip to Doha for the Qatar Open.
Playing just two days after her final in Cluj-Napoca, she was still visibly unwell and ended up retiring from her match against Camila Osorio.
Raducanu has yet to win a match at the Qatar Open, but there are plenty of opportunities ahead for her to turn things around.
Next up is Dubai, where she’ll compete in another WTA 1000 event as part of a busy stretch that also includes Indian Wells and Miami next month.
The Dubai Tennis Championships start on Sunday, February 15th. It’s one of four straight WTA 1000 tournaments on Raducanu’s schedule.
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