Cluj Napoca was the next destination on the Cirstea farewell voyage. The home WTA 250 which Sori has played two times previously yet not yet tasted victory on the indoor purple hardcourts. I am in Cluj with a couple of friends and Postivity Penguin. For me also it is visit number three to the tournament and to Cluj in general, staying this year on the other side of the river which is more of a scenic and pleasant area than where we stayed in the past. Owing to a miscommunication I have been taken on a tour of all the shopping malls in the city and got to see some sites in the three unnecessary Uber rides.

Sorana is last on the first day of the main draw, Monday 2nd February. Sorana has never won in Cluj and I have never watched her win live before yet Groundhog Day this is not as she scored a strong win against Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4 6-4. The win was relatively routine for Sori but not without it’s occasional complications. Sorana was getting frustrated in the later service games and complaining to her coach that she kept surrendering commanding leads, but the 14 Aces and strong home support by the vocal and dedicated Romanian crowd pushed her along when she needed it most. The quality of the tennis was very high but as the match went on the rallies got longer and Sorana was visibly tired at times. A quick break late in the second set backed up by an emphatic service hold to seal the match was enough to stop it getting sticky. A strong win for the home favourite and she was delightful with the excited crowd after. Not just signings and selfies she was taking time to talk to all the fans too, she hugged my friend Cristina and remembered meeting her in Brasov in 2020 where she inspired and encouraged her with her tennis, this obviously did have an impact as Cristina beat me 6-1 6-1 earlier in the at the Winners Sports Club using Briana Szabo’s old rackets, Cristina saw Briana during the match and had the opportunity to thank her for the loan of her weapons. She noted Briana was very nice. A special mention also to her father, Adrian who had been incredibly kind and welcoming to our party during our visit to Cluj. In return we shall make sure we support his daughter and Elena Ruxandra Bertea (Berty) in the doubles!

I personally was very happy for Sorana, still a little sad that her Australian Open ended in a bit of unnecessary controversy which meant she did not get the send off she deserved however whatever happens in the next few days, she is loved here and it will be a special week for this great champion and lovely human.

The next match for our Champ was two days later, and an evening session, allowing Sorana what was essentially maximum recovery time. Unlike fellow Romanian Jaqueline Cristian who played the night before, an exhausting both physically and emotionally three set opener in front of a raucous crowd, called into action the next afternoon was a little too much for her and although I was next door watching Irina Bara in the doubles I understand it was a flat match where Jaqi lacked belief and energy in a very one sided defeat.

My friend Cristina has returned to England, minus her phone which she lost in one of the many Ubers we rode in the other day in our needless exploration of the city’s malls. For readers who are concerned, the phone has been found and the driver was kind enough to drop it off at the ‘Tennis Bubble’ outside the BT Arena. My other friend Adrian collects it as I am having lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant, I am blissfully unaware that Simona Halep is sat with her family on the table directly behind me. All the time I am facing the bar eating my minestrone soup and one of the most influential people both in sport and life, who I owe so much to is directly behind me. I think she must have been annoyed I did not recognise her as when they were leaving she stood next to my table to button up her coat. There were a million things I have wished I could say to Simona over the years but for now I am politely saying hello and asking how she is. I thought about how excited Cristina was when she spoke to her and got her book signed the other day and thanked Simona for making my friend so happy, without a second thought for what she has done for me in my life. I have with me on this trip three Simona Halep T Shirts yet unaware I would bump into her today I am wearing one of my five Miriam Bulgaru T Shirts. I wonder if Simona has spotted her replacement on my chest but Miriam is the reason I came to Cluj and even though it would have been nice to have a Halep top on during this chance lunch meeting I wear my Miri T Shirts with pride despite her defeat the other day where she worked very hard against a difficult opponent with a great attitude.

Onto Sorana’s second round match which is not before 6pm in the evening and after Jaqueline Cristina’s morale crushing defeat earlier in the day she has the extra pressure of trying to reignite the deflated crowd. My joint favourite player (along with Miriam Bulgaru) Gabi Lee is playing at an ITF event in Orlando this evening so I am hoping for a quick win from Sori so I can watch Gabs’ after. She clearly understood my concern and dispatched Tamara Zidansek in 53 minutes 6-1 6-0 she was absolutely outstanding, it was hard to gage Zidansek’s own performance in this one. She was quite simply a passenger in the match, Sorana did not let her come up for air once. It was an incredible and immaculate effort, she was dialled in. After an opening round which was strong but had a few bumps in the road this was as close as to perfection as it gets. Defending Champion Anastasia Potopova is waiting for Sorana next in the quarter finals, it will not be easy, Potopova has dodged a few bullets in two previous close three set matches, she really should have lost in the first round but Lucia Bronzetti could not put the final nails in the coffin in a repeat of last year’s final but certainly a much better match. My only concern is sometimes when a player escapes a few early on they get very dangerous as they continue but if Sorana maintains her supreme level from today she has to be favourite but equally remember it’s a brand new match.

I return to the Tennis Bubble outside and ask them if they can put Gabi Lee’s match on, they refuse because she is nothing to do with the tournament, but that’s the tournament’s own fault and their loss. I return to my apartment to watch her with Emma Raducanu’s second round Cluj match on in the background. Gabi loses and it’s a sad ending to a phenomenonal evening with Sorana’s super Tennis. Cristina forgot to give her her some make up gifts from her business when she met her the other night but I was able to pass these on to Sorana after her win who was very grateful. She also has a life time achievement trophy, Positivity Penguin and copy of my tennis novel from me, what a great day for her.

The match against Potopova was one of the most dramatic live tennis matches I have ever watched, in terms of adrenaline rush it was up there with Djokovic and Thiem live at the ATP finals in London 2019. The quality of tennis was high from both throughout. It started fast, a quick break was cancelled out early on in the opening games. Sorana’s return game was very strong in particular. In the first set she got a few early punches in but defaulted to more passive exchanges however once she committed to more aggression late on she won the decisive break and took the first set 7-5. Sorana got the early break in set two and that’s when the drama really unfolded. Return game after return game, each one had so many deuces, Sorana battled for her life to try and get the double break for security but time and time again she was pegged back. Even though she always had the advantage tennis relies so much on momentum and it felt she was never safe until she landed another yellow barrel on the shark (if you have watched Jaws). However time and time again she held serve after, at one point from 15-40. It was a set where everyone watching felt she needed that double break, it almost felt like she was losing even though she was a set and a break up all the way. She made Potopova sweat every return game all the way to 5-4! The anxious home crowd preying that she could confirm the kill earlier but no, this one was never going to be straight forward. She had to serve it out but she served it out with ease and flew into the semi finals. Of her three wins so far this week this was the best for me, I know she won in 53 minutes in the last one but this was a mental masterclass, the hardest match on paper against the 5th seed and defending Champion who was confident after some tough yet strong wins in her previous matches. Tennis is all about dealing with adversity, well Sorana didn’t just deal with adversity she poured mustard all over it, gobbled it down and asked to see the desert menu, she was outstanding, magnificent!!!

Daria Snigur one of two remaining Ukrainians awaits Sori in the semi finals who followed her with a dramatic three set win which went late into the evening. She will be tricky and she has a lethal forehand which Sori will need be weary of but unless there is a significant drop off of form and confidence Sorana should get through, if both players play their best there will only be one winner. Still a long way to go but could this be the year the Transylvania Open finally gets a home winner?

Semi Finals Day! Our very own Emma Raducanu is up first against a dangerous Ukrainian Oleksandra Olynykova. Whilst tennis players and fans do not get more sporting than me I am not clapping this player this week due to her conduct in her match against Anna Bondar earlier in the week, the non handshake was political and apparently pre-annouced owing to Bondar’s participation in a Russian tournament so that’s okay but Oleksandra’s behaviour in the match and the over celebrating after against a player I am very fond of, is good friends and doubles partner with one of my favourite players, Simona Waltert and has sent me several kind messages was enough for me to exercise my right as a fan to not clap. I’ll never boo or protest but I do not have to clap an opponent especially if I do not mean it.

Emma who had looked so strong all week was hunting her first final since the famous US Open title in 2021, with a Romanian father she is adored in this country and received just as much support as the home players had had. She started incredibly well and was aggressive and disciplined in the rallies, she allowed her foot to slip off the accelerator in the second set and surrendered her serve late on for the opponent to draw level. She was making more errors and her tennis had become too passive, she complained to her coach she was trying to go to the net but getting passed continually. The approach was not the issue she needed to find a way to play more aggressive again. She did just this in the final set and started to wrestle back control of the points. Once she was back on the front foot she battled her way to the victory 7-5 3-6 6-3 in just under three hours. An excellent win against a strong opponent who had done very well this week.

Sorana was next up and excitement levels were sky high. The capacity crowd were not going anywhere as they roared her onto the court hoping to help her through to what would be the dream final. As expected Daria Snigur was tired and nervous after her big win the night before, Sorana had a clear gameplan, attack the forehand, break it down, make her lose confidence in it. I had dropped her coach a message about this the night before, they may not have read it and it might just be a coincidence but the strategy was clear. Sorana continually targeted the deuce corner of the court, pounding into Daria’s hitting zone, every single time the Sorana sizzlers landed in that corner she won the point as Daria kept over pressing she had no control on the returns, she was being rushed and pressured. Sorana was not without her own nerves and did find a few points on serve uncomfortable as she panicked occasionally and rushed a little but the home fans kept her calm and fighting through to a convincing bagel set in a little over 20 minutes just like against Zidansek a couple of matches ago. Sorana found set two ever so slightly more tricky, she kept trying for her target but the balls were falling a bit more short and Daria was getting more back, she was also a little more passive and everything she hit into the centre of the court was returned with ease.

Yet it felt Sorana was never in any danger in the whole match, particularly on serve and her 100 per cent record of saving the few break points she faced highlighted this. She won in 56 minutes, under an hour for the second time this week. She was outstanding for the fourth time this week. As she gave her speech at the end of the match with her affectious smile I very nearly cried, it was the most emotional I have been at a live tennis match since Miriam Bulgaru made the final of Bucharest (which she won) I had travelled to Bucharest for just the final three days of the competition hoping that Miri would at least get to the quarter finals so I could watch her yet she was kind enough to win the whole tournament for me. I love these Romanian players and have done for several years however in the last year I have been very ill and supporting these incredible athletes has kept me going. I have travelled to intimate ITF events at Brasov and Bucharest where I have watched players like Stefi Bojica and Georgia Craciun play for their lives while fighting injuries, I have seen them grimace after every point and there was barely anyone watching them, these are free tennis events in Romania, Georgia’s was in the evening. Now here they all are in their hundreds. Kids running to the front while the matches are still being played to demand towels and autographs. Miriam gave me her towel and water bottle in Wiesbaden, I never asked for them but cannot describe the comfort they brought me when I had two of the scariest anxiety attacks of my life after being convinced in my mind I had cancer and believing I would die. This event, which is the reason I am such a big fan of Miriam and the reason Positivity Penguin exists I have become dillussioned with, it is more to do with marketing and commercial gain than the players and their experiences. An event where Wild Cards are questionable; Maria Sara Popa who I am very fond of was refused a Wild Card for this tournament and she had worked so immensely hard last year after a difficult start. Gabi Lee, my joint favourite player and the Romanian Number Eight, continually ignored by her own country. She won her first singles title in three years last May the Romanian Tennis Federation did not mention it. I was furious, I messaged their Instagram account to tell them Gabi had won and they gave her no coverage, they asked me for the links, I gave them everything, photos and all the tournament details and pages, still nothing, absolutely disgusting. I had met Gabi for the first time in Wiesbaden, she is one of the most nicest, modest and charming people you could ever hope to meet. I used to run an Instagram page for the Romanian players, I was always messaging players and their teams or anyone involved in Romanian tennis for interviews and help with projects, often there no were no replies or polite declines but for Gabi Lee’s 30th birthday last year the response was overwhelming, so many players, past and present wanted to help, they recorded messages and sent photos, she is so popular with her peers, yet ignored by her country. She played for Romania in the Billie Jean King Cup last November for the first time at the age of 30. She was so visibly happy and proud and it was a magnificent effort in both her singles matches, I thought a corner was turned then, she was getting the respect and recognition she has always deserved but sadly her call up was a necessity due to the unavailabilty of other players. She had such a good 2025, she is fighting hard for the ranking which will get her access into the grand slam qualifiers. A Wild Card to this tournament would have helped her so much, it is incredibly unfair after everything she has done, people probably think I am making such a fuss but she is my joint favourite player, she has done so much for me, her tennis always brings me happiness and inspiration especially last year when I was in a dark place and needed it the most, I love her as a player and like her as a person and she will always have my support every point. What was I talking about? Oh yes Sorana Cirstea 🙂 Sorana too such an incredible person. After each match she has been so amazing with the fans, the lovely exchange she had with Cristina the other day for example. I have been sat in the front row each week and after every match I am getting crushed (in my own seat which I have paid for) by fans begging for towels autographs and selfies. I have had to retreat a few times and watch the on court interviews from a few rows up so I can breathe but this time I stay, I’m quite emotional, I’m so happy for Sorana. As she is doing the signings she sees me taking a few photos with PP and she came directly to me and shook my hand, she thanked me for my support and her Life Time Achievement Award and Penguin I had brought for her. It’s the perfect final, Emma Raducanu versus Sorana Cirstea and on my birthday. Even though I am British and immensely proud of what our British Number One has done this week I am supporting Sorana in the final, I am sure Emma does not mind in fact if Emma was not playing her she would probably be supporting her too!

Finals day soon came, PP and i allowed for some time to travel to the Banffy Palace and look at some art, before a stroll around town then a pre match coffee. The BT Arena was full, the finalists entered onto court to a raucous reception for both. From the first point Sorana entered into God mode and zoomed her way to another bagel set. Poor Emma could not keep up the pace. It seemed her strong efforts in the semi finals was starting to catch up with her physically and as this was her first final since the famous US Open title in 2021 she simply was not used to winning 4 matches in a row. Although Sorana had a little dip at the start of the second she finished strong and it was an immaculate 6-0 6-2. This was the second time I had seen a Romanian win a home tournament live, I was so close to tears. I had travelled to Cluj for Miriam and was happy to have seen her but to see Sorana win her home tournament in front of her endearing fans on her last season was so emotional. I was so happy for her, I was happy to see her doing so well. I was pissed off about what happened to her in Australia, cruel and unjust and one of the several reasons I am retiring my Instagram page. I was uncomfortable in Cluj because last year when I was there I was very depressed and in an incredibly dark place. The following 12 months were difficult and I am still not completely recovered. Sorana winning this event showered my trip in warmth, the excitement she brought to my friend and the kindness she showed me was so lovely and made supporting this incredible player effortess. I am going back home tomorrow, to face life, to make a concertive effort to enjoy all the things which make me happy, to get fit and healthy again to enjoy everything I do and do it well. My love of Romanian tennis was a comfort, I had inherited the late Phil Boosey’s passion and commitment to the WTA Romanian players and created a tribute Instagram page in his memory but as wonderful as Phil was and with everything he did for those incredible players he was not a well man, he was depressed and had become obsessed, after his sad passing I had learned he had cut off the people who cared about him most and who loved him as a person. I felt this obsession affecting me, I was getting too passionate, too defensive and not focusing on my own wellbeing. Some of these players in particular, Oana Simion, Miriam Bulgaru and Gabi Lee have helped me so much in my darkest moments and I will always support them and they know that but I know they are equally concerned about me and even though they appreciate what I do they do not expect me to be a morale crusader. Sorana has been magnificent this week and even though I will retreat from social media I will continue to write these articles about her final season and hopefully see her play a few more times live this year and do what I did this week, put my phone away and enjoy the tennis with real life people who care about me and who I care about too ❤️ it actually felt so good.

Congratulations Sori can’t wait for the next tournament Champ, pen at the ready!