Clara Burel (French pronunciation: [klaʁa byʁɛl]; born 24 March 2001) is a French professional tennis player. On 10 June 2024, she peaked at No. 42 in the WTA singles rankings.

Clara Burel
Burel at the 2022 French Open
Country (sports) France
ResidencePerros-Guirec, France
Born (2001-03-24) 24 March 2001 (age 23)
Rennes, France
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$2,464,948
Singles
Career record168–122
Career titles1 WTA Challenger, 4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 42 (10 June 2024)
Current rankingNo. 56 (16 September 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (2024)
French Open3R (2020)
Wimbledon2R (2021, 2024)
US Open3R (2022, 2023)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2024)
Doubles
Career record9–28
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 246 (9 May 2022)
Current rankingNo. 661 (23 September 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2022, 2024)
French Open3R (2021)
Wimbledon1R (2022)
US Open1R (2023, 2024)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2024)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open2R (2022, 2024)
Last updated on: 26 September 2024.

Career

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Juniors

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In 2018, Burel reached the junior singles final at three major events, the Australian Open, the US Open and the Youth Summer Olympics (YOG). Partnering with compatriot Hugo Gaston, she also won the mixed-doubles bronze medal at the YOG.

In October, Burel qualified for the ITF Junior Masters, where she captured her first major title. She became the junior world No. 1 the next week, on 29 October 2018.

Grand Slam performance - Singles:

  • Australian Open: F (2018)
  • French Open: 3R (2018)
  • Wimbledon: 3R (2018)
  • US Open: F (2018)

Grand Slam performance - Doubles:

  • Australian Open: 2R (2018)
  • French Open: 2R (2017, 2018)
  • Wimbledon: QF (2018)
  • US Open: 2R (2018)

2018: First ITF final

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Burel at the 2018 French Open

Following her final in Melbourne, Burel was selected as an alternate in the French Fed Cup team for the 2018 first round against Belgium. In September, she reached her first final on the ITF Circuit at Clermont-Ferrand, falling to Lesley Kerkhove.

2019: Grand Slam debut

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Burel was a wildcard entrant in the Australian Open where she lost in the first round to Carla Suárez Navarro.[1][2]

2020: French Open debut and third round

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In 2020, Burel received wildcards for two WTA Tour and the Grand Slam home tournaments. In March in Lyon, she lost in the first round to Jil Teichmann.[3] In September in Strasbourg, she knocked out Kateryna Bondarenko, before falling in the second round to Zhang Shuai.

At the French Open the following week, she beat Arantxa Rus in the first round, and Kaja Juvan in the second to reach the third round of a major for the first time in her career, becoming the youngest Frenchwoman since 18-year-old Alizé Cornet did so in 2008.[4]

2021: WTA Tour final, top 100 and WTA 1000 debuts

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She qualified for the 2021 Australian Open and the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

Burel reached her first WTA Tour final at the Ladies Open Lausanne, losing to Tamara Zidanšek in three sets.[5] As a result, she made her top 100 debut, at world No. 98, on 19 July 2021.

She made her WTA 1000 debut at the Canadian Open as a qualifier but lost to Ons Jabeur in the first round.

2022: Top 75, first WTA 1000 win, US Open third round

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On 21 February 2022, she peaked at No. 74 in the singles rankings.

She recorded her first WTA 1000 win at the Miami Open against qualifier Magdalena Fręch.

Burel qualified for the US Open,[6] and reached the third round defeating Wimbledon champion and 25th seed, Elena Rybakina,[7] and Alison Van Uytvanck, before losing to sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka.[8] As a result, her ranking rose almost 30 positions back to No. 102.

2023: Maiden WTA 125 title

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She qualified for the Australian Open[9] and defeated wildcard Talia Gibson in the first round, her first win at this major.[10] In April, she also qualified into the main draw of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open, losing to Camila Osorio in the first round.[11]

Burel won her first WTA 125 tournament at the Open Angers Arena Loire in December, defeating compatriot Chloé Paquet in three sets in the final.[12][13]

2024: Third major third round, first top-10 win, Olympics and top 50 debuts

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Burel reached the third round at the 2024 Australian Open for the first time at this major defeating Aleksandra Krunić and fifth seed Jessica Pegula, her first top-10 win.[14] As a result, she recorded a new career-high singles ranking of world No. 44, reaching the top 50 for the first time on 5 February 2024. At the newly upgraded Upper Austria Ladies Linz, she reached the quarterfinals defeating Sinja Kraus and Kateřina Siniaková, before losing to third seed Donna Vekić.[15] At the newly upgraded WTA 500 in Strasbourg, she also reached the quarterfinals defeating wildcard Karolina Plíšková, and upset seventh seed and defending champion, Elina Svitolina, her second career top 20 win,[16] before also losing to third seed and eventual finalist, Danielle Collins.

After five successful losses she recorded a first round win over Eva Lys at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2024 Tennis in the Land she also reached the quarterfinals defeating two Americans lucky loser Elvina Kalieva and eight seed Sofia Kenin. At the US Open she defeated another American, former champion Sloane Stephens, having fallen behind Stephens 6-0, 3-0 30-15 to win 0-6, 7-5, 7-5.[17] At the China Open on her debut at the tournament, she also recorded a first-round victory over lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch.[18]

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[19]

Singles

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Current through the 2024 Jasmin Open.

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A 1R 1R 2R 3R 0 / 5 3–5 38%
French Open Q1 A 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 5 2–5 29%
Wimbledon A A NH 2R 1R Q2 2R 0 / 3 2–3 40%
US Open A A A 1R 3R 3R 2R 0 / 4 5–4 56%
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–4 2–4 3–3 4–4 0 / 17 12–17 41%
National representation
Summer Olympics NH A NH 2R 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Billie Jean King Cup[a] A A RR[b] A RR 0 / 1 1–0 100%
WTA 1000
Qatar Open[c] A NMS A NMS A NMS A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Dubai[c] NMS A NMS A NMS Q1 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Indian Wells Open A A NH A 1R A 2R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Miami Open A A NH A 2R A 1R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Madrid Open A A NH A Q2 1R 1R 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Italian Open A A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Canadian Open A A NH 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Cincinnati Open A A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Guadalajara Open NH A A NTI 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wuhan Open A A NH 0 / 0 0–0  – 
China Open A A NH A 2R 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–7 0 / 11 3–11 21%
Career statistics
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 SR W–L Win %
Tournaments 0 1 3 12 11 10 22 Career total: 59
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Finals 0 0 0 1 0 1 Career total: 2
Hard win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–1 4–8 4–5 7–5 0 / 20 15–20 43%
Clay win–loss 0–0 0–0 3–2 5–3 3–5 9–5 0 / 15 20–15 57%
Grass win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–1 3–3 10–12 7–11 16–10 16-22 0 / 59 52–59 47%
Year-end ranking 612 871 235 77 135 61 $2,464,948

Doubles

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Current through the 2023 US Open.

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R A 1R 0 / 2 0–2 0%
French Open 1R A 1R 3R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 6 2–6 25%
Wimbledon A A NH A 1R A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
US Open A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–3 0–2 0–2 0 / 10 2–10 17%
National representation
Billie Jean King Cup[a] A A RR[b] A RR 0 / 1 0–3 0%
Career statistics
Tournaments 1 0 2 2 4 2 1 Career total: 12
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Finals 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 0
Overall win–loss 0–1 0–0 0–2 2–4 0–4 0–2 0–1 0 / 12 2–14 13%
Year-end ranking 1121 n/a 741 265 1010 644

WTA Tour finals

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Singles: 2 (runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
WTA 250 (0–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2021 Ladies Open Lausanne, Switzerland WTA 250 Clay   Tamara Zidanšek 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 1–6
Loss 0–2 Jul 2023 Ladies Open Lausanne, Switzerland WTA 250 Clay   Elisabetta Cocciaretto 5–7, 6–4, 4–6

WTA Challenger finals

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Singles: 1 (title)

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Result W–L    Date    Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Dec 2023 Open Angers, France Hard (i)   Chloé Paquet 3–6, 6–4, 6–2

ITF Circuit finals

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Singles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runner–ups)

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Legend
$80,000 tournaments (0–1)
$60,000 tournaments (2–1)
$25,000 tournaments (2–2)
$15,000 tournaments (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–3)
Clay (2–2)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2018 ITF Clermont-Ferrand, France 25,000 Hard (i)   Lesley Kerkhove 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 0–2 Nov 2019 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Carole Monnet 2–6, 0–6
Win 1–2 Feb 2020 Open de l'Isère, France 25,000 Hard (i)   Eléonora Molinaro 5–7, 7–5, 6–2
Loss 1–3 Feb 2021 ITF Poitiers, France 25,000 Hard (i)   Daria Snigur 3–6, 6–2, 5–7
Loss 1–4 Apr 2021 Oeiras Ladies Open, Portugal 60,000 Clay   Polona Hercog w/o
Win 2–4 May 2021 Open Saint-Gaudens, France 60,000 Clay   Alexandra Dulgheru 6–2, 1–6, 6–2
Loss 2–5 Sep 2021 Wiesbaden Open, Germany 80,000 Clay   Anna Bondár 2–6, 4–6
Win 3–5 Oct 2021 ITF Cherbourg, France 25,000+H Hard (i)   Émeline Dartron 6–4, 6–2
Win 4–5 Jul 2023 Open de Montpellier, France 60,000 Clay   Astra Sharma 6–3, 7–5

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

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Singles: 2 (runner-ups)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2018 Australian Open Hard   Liang En-shuo 3–6, 4–6
Loss 2018 US Open Hard   Wang Xiyu 6–7(4–7), 2–6

Head-to-head record

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Record against top 10 players

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  • She has a 1–4 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
Result W–L Opponent Rank Event Surface Round Score Rank H2H
2021
Loss 0–1   Elina Svitolina No. 6 Chicago Open Hard 1R 7–5, 1–6, 0–2 ret. No. 91
2022
Loss 0–2   Garbiñe Muguruza No. 3 Australian Open Hard 1R 3–6, 4–6 No. 77
Loss 0–3   Maria Sakkari No. 3 French Open Clay 1R 2–6, 3–6 No. 94
Loss 0–4   Aryna Sabalenka No. 6 US Open Hard 3R 0–6, 2–6 No. 131
2024
Win 1–4   Jessica Pegula No. 5 Australian Open Hard 2R 6–4, 6–2 No. 51

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Formerly known as Fed Cup until 2020.
  2. ^ a b Edition is split into the two years due to COVID-19.
  3. ^ a b The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.

References

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  1. ^ Macpherson, Alex (11 January 2019). "Getting to know you: Introducing Melbourne 2019's Grand Slam debutantes". WTA.
  2. ^ "Open d'Australie : Burel, la taxe d'apprentissage". L'Équipe (in French). Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Johanna Konta beats Kim Clijsters at Monterrey Open; Heather Watson knocked out". Sky Sports. 4 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Clara Burel Making an Impact at the French Open". 3 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Zidansek battles past Burel in Lausanne to win first title". WTA Tour. 18 July 2021.
  6. ^ Chiesa, Victoria (26 August 2022). "Meet the 2022 US Open women's qualifiers". US Open. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  7. ^ Koiki, Adesina O. (30 August 2022). "Clara Burel upsets Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina at 2022 US Open". US Open. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  8. ^ Cantrell, Cindy (3 September 2022). "Clara Burel, once a junior No. 1, shining at 2022 US Open". US Open. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Brenda Fruhvirtova, Shnaider, Bejlek qualify for Australian Open". WTA Tennis. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Australian Open: Burel moves into second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Madrid Open: Osorio into round of 64". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Burel comes back to defeat Paquet in Angers for first WTA 125 title". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Burel beats Paquet in all-French final to clinch Angers title". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Burel upsets Pegula at Australian Open for first Top 10 win". WTA Tennis. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  15. ^ "2024 Linz; Hot Shot: Burel delivers 'one of the most remarkable points you'll see'". Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Burel ends Svitolina's title defense in Strasbourg; faces Collins next". 22 May 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Clara Burel eliminates former champion Sloane Stephens at 2024 US Open". 26 August 2024.
  18. ^ "2024 Beijing; Burel passes Korpatsch test in three-set Beijing opener; meets Gauff next". 25 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Clara Burel". Australian Open. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
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Awards
Preceded by ITF Junior World Champion
2018
Succeeded by