What an achievement by Clara Burel! The 21-year-old Frenchwoman created the surprise on Tuesday evening in the first round of the US Open. In 2 sets, Clara Burel offered the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (6-4, 6-4), victorious at Wimbledon in July. 131st in the world and from qualifying, the French right-hander had struggled to interfere in the main draw of the New York tournament, the second of her career.
This is the first time that the young Habs have won a match against a Top 50 player. Clara Burel had been eliminated in the first round of the three Grand Slam tournaments of the season. She reached the second round of the US Open for the first time.
More realistic than her opponent, the Frenchwoman nevertheless struggled on the court, mistreated by the good angles found by the native of Russia. Clara Burel converted her 3 break points while Elena Rybakina had only materialized one of the 9 obtained. The Wimbledon winner was too imprecise to reign in this first round, offering no less than 37 unforced errors to her opponent.
In the second round, Clara Burel has an appointment with the Belgian Alison van Uytvank (43rd) or the American Venus Williams (1,504th and guest).