Australian Open: WTA debut in Melbourne: Clara Burel receives wildcard

She is France’s tennis hopeful in the women’s sector and just 17 years old: Clara Burel. The French will make her wildcard debut on the WTA tour at the Australian Open.

The hopes of the tennis nation France rest on Clara Burel. The 17-year-old, who was born in Rennes, currently leads the world ranking list of juniors and can now look forward to a special gift from the French Tennis Association.

Burel receives Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and a wildcard for the upcoming Australian Open at the end of January in Melbourne. So it is also clear that Burel will celebrate her debut on the WTA tour. The tennis chick already got a wildcard for the qualification for the last French Open, but lost in the first round.

In the doubles Burel was already in the main lap at a Grand Slam. In 2018, however, the 17-year-old and her partner Diane Parry lost to Sara Errani and Kirsten Flipkens.

Burel’s chance for her first main-field assignment with the pros is mainly at the junior major tournaments. At the Australian Open and the US Open, the right-handed player played her way into the final, but lost out there. Burel celebrated her biggest success so far at the end of the season when she won the title at the ITF Junior Masters.

Especially France’s Fed Cup and Davis Cup boss Yannick Noah thinks a lot of the upcoming WTA star and invited Burel to the Fed Cup duel against Belgium. The 17-year-old was part of the team with Kristina Mladenovic, Pauline Parmentier and Amandine Hesse. However, the soon-to-be debutante was not deployed.