Emma Raducanu rallies past Kaja Juvan as Cluj run gathers momentum

Emma Raducanu steadied herself after an early wobble and moved a step closer to a deep week in Romania on Wednesday, defeating Kaja Juvan in straight sets at the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca. The win extends a promising bounce-back stretch for Raducanu just days after another coaching change, while Juvan’s gritty resistance early on showed why she remains a dangerous floater on indoor hard courts.

A match that turned fast

For a set and a half, this looked like a script Raducanu has been trying to shake: an opponent swinging freely, Raducanu searching for timing, and the scoreboard tilting quickly. Juvan surged to a 5-0 lead in the opening set, taking the ball early and pressuring Raducanu’s second serve.

Then the match flipped.

Raducanu tightened her return position, started making more first serves, and simplified the patterns—harder through the middle, earlier strikes on shorter balls, fewer low-percentage changes of direction. The result was a long run of games that pulled her back into the set, then pushed her over the finish line.

Raducanu closed the comeback to take the first set 7-5, then ran away with the second 6-1, turning a tight contest into a statement win.

What changed in the comeback

The difference wasn’t flashy; it was functional.

Raducanu stopped giving Juvan quick looks at her backhand return and leaned into a more direct brand of indoor tennis: quick points, clean contact, and constant pressure on serve. Once she began landing first serves more consistently, her first-ball aggression took away Juvan’s time—an important factor indoors, where the bounce stays low and the court rewards early strikes.

Juvan, meanwhile, couldn’t hold the same pace once the opening-set cushion disappeared. The rallies became shorter and more return-focused, and Raducanu’s ability to win points in the first four shots started to decide the match.

Why this result matters for Raducanu right now

This week is about more than one scoreboard.

Raducanu entered Cluj needing match reps and rhythm after an uneven start to the season and a recent split with coach Francisco Roig. The tournament has also doubled as a reset point: fewer moving parts, clearer tactics, and an on-court identity that looks closer to the version of Raducanu that thrives when she plays first-strike tennis.

A run in a WTA 250 setting can do two practical things:

1. build confidence and patterns that hold up under pressure, and

2. bank wins that stabilize ranking and seeding as the schedule turns toward bigger events.

Where Kaja Juvan fits into the picture

Juvan has spent the last year working her way back into the main-tour conversation, and her early burst in this match reflected a player with real weapons—especially when she can step in, take risks, and keep points on her terms.

The problem on Wednesday was sustainability. Once Raducanu adjusted her return targets and began serving more accurately, Juvan was forced to hit closer to the lines to keep control, and the error rate climbed. For Juvan, the takeaway is still meaningful: the level is there, but closing sets against top seeds demands a steadier second phase when the opponent adapts.

What to watch next in Cluj

Raducanu’s biggest test going forward is repeatability. The aggressive plan works best when her first serve is reliable and her forehand timing holds up through long stretches, not just bursts. The good sign from this match was that she didn’t need perfection—she needed clarity, and she found it after falling behind.

If she continues to win the return battle and keep points compact, she’ll be tough to beat in these conditions. If her first-serve percentage dips, the door opens quickly, as the opening five games showed.

The coaching context hovering over every match

Even when she’s winning, Raducanu’s coaching situation remains part of the story because it affects preparation, match-day decision-making, and the longer-term goal of building consistency. This week has looked like a “back to basics” approach—clear patterns, fewer mid-match experiments, and an emphasis on doing the simple things well under scoreboard stress.

For Raducanu, the best-case scenario is that results like this buy time and calm: time to compete, time to choose the right long-term setup, and time to let one coherent style settle in before the next swing of big tournaments.

Sources consulted: WTA, Reuters, BBC Sport, The Telegraph