Emma Raducanu has reached the semifinals of the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, following a straight-sets victory over Maja Chwalińska. The British player's strong performance comes just a week after parting ways with coach Francisco Roig, her ninth coaching change in five seasons. She is now one win away from potentially entering the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2022.
Emma Raducanu, the top seed at the WTA 250 Transylvania Open, continued her impressive run in Cluj-Napoca by defeating qualifier Maja Chwalińska 6-0, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on February 5, 2026. This marks her fifth tour-level semifinal and positions her to face world No. 91 Oleksandra Oliynykova next. Earlier in the tournament, Raducanu staged a remarkable comeback against Kaja Juvan in the second round, rallying from 5-0 down to win 13 of the last 14 games.
The 23-year-old Briton, who won the 2021 US Open as her only WTA title, has been dealing with a revolving door of coaches. She split with Francisco Roig late last week, shortly after a second-round exit at the Australian Open. Roig, who previously worked with Rafael Nadal during his 22 Grand Slam title run, Sloane Stephens, and Matteo Berrettini, joined Raducanu last summer. Her coaching history includes Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson (who guided her to the US Open win), Torben Beltz, Dimitri Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday, and a return stint with Mark Petchey in 2025.
For now, former British pro Alexis Canter is serving as her temporary coach. Raducanu praised him post-match, saying, “Alexis is a great guy, he has been helping a lot this week and we have just been getting our heads down and working.” She dismissed rumors of Simona Halep, the two-time Grand Slam winner banned for doping, joining her team, joking, “I think she has better things to be doing than coaching on the Tour!”
WTA legend Kim Clijsters expressed concern over the frequent changes on the Love All podcast: “When I hear things like that, I get curious about who’s making those decisions. Is it her? Her agent? Her father?” Fellow Brit Greg Rusedski urged Raducanu to return to her aggressive 2021 style, noting, “She’s done the hardest thing first, winning the US Open... Let’s try to win a WTA Tour title at the lowest level and build up from there.”
The victory over Chwalińska boosted Raducanu to No. 27 in the live rankings; a semifinal win would propel her into the top 25. With Romanian heritage, the indoor hard-court event holds added significance as she eyes her second WTA title.
