The Strasbourg tournament begins magnificently for Clara Burel. A week before the start of Roland-Garros, the young Breton offered herself in two sets (7-6, 7-5) the Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 31st in the world and seeded number 5 in the tournament.
This is a very encouraging result one week before the start of Roland-Garros. Clara Burel, who remained on two entry eliminations (at the Clarins Trophy and in Madrid, where she had to go through the qualifications), smiled again this Monday on Alsatian clay. After nearly a month without tasting victory, the young 22-year-old French player returned to success in the first round of the Strasbourg tournament. The Breton even created the sensation of this second day (the tournament had started on Sunday), since she allowed herself to bring down one of the favorites of the tournament: Sorana Cirstea.
Winner of the Challenger tournament in Reus (Spain) at the beginning of the month but above all author of a fabulous American tour, since she had reached the quarter-finals in Indian Wells before inviting herself to the last four in the wake of Miami, the Romanian had also inherited the status of seeded number 5 in this event in which she had played in the final two years ago.
In the second round, Burel came back from afar
Without any complex, Burel, 122nd in the standings, created the feat against the 31st in the world. After winning in the decisive game (7-5) a first round which had started with a successful break from the start by the Frenchwoman, the latter came back from afar in the following set. The pet peeve of Caroline Garcia last April (she had eliminated the Lyonnaise in Indian Wells as in Miami) had indeed started the round very badly, unlike her opponent.
Leading 3-0 was not enough for Cirstea, however, joined at 4-4 by Burel after having taken off (3-0). The end of the set then gave rise to a very good fight between the two players. The young Habs had the last word on her… sixth match point. Burel will face Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the second round.
