Did you thrill to the courses of Arthur Cazaux and Océane Dodin in Melbourne? You will love the Australian Open junior tournament, where France is represented by the next hype of the women’s circuit. Ksenia Efremova, 14 years old and of Russian origin, honors the wild card obtained by the FFT as part of the reciprocity agreement with Tennis Australia. Don’t be fooled by her appearance: the teenager, still very frail, throws concrete blocks in the faces of her opponents, who, seeded or not, have so far taken the same price, a defeat in two sets.
Her latest victim is Mia Slama, a 17-year-old American who neither age nor clear muscular superiority prevented the tornado Efremova from reaching the quarter-finals, where the number 1 seed now awaits her. 1, Renata Jamrichova, ranked 400 places higher in the WTA rankings. A wall that the Franco-Russian has already overcome to win her first title on the pro circuit in Monastir against Selina Dal (720th), at the end of December.
There is no limit to the ambition of the Mouratoglou academy student. Even legends don’t scare him. In his viewfinder? World number one, Grand Slam tournaments and even the records of Serena Williams and Steffi Graff – we’ll excuse her for not knowing Margaret Court. “She has a super strong character, she has a big ego and I think that’s important to become very strong in a high-level sport, no matter the sport,” entrusted to The Team his trainer, Pierre Débrosse. In Melbourne, she went to attend Novak Djokovic’s training to take notes on how to become the best. A good model.
Recently French
More generally, Efremova already lives like a pro. Five hours of training a day, cold baths to recover more quickly, a careful diet. She has even had an agent since she was ten, the age when she arrived in France. A tennis version of Mbappé’s project like so many others in wealthy Russian circles, which we also owe to a family tennis connection: the late father was an amateur, and the mother a modest professional player (an ITF singles title , i.e.… as many as his daughter, and ten others in doubles).
Since fall 2023 and although she cannot speak the language fluently, Ksenia Efremova has been French. “I love the culture, I love the language, I love the cuisine,” explains Efremova at the microphone of “Tout le Sport”. The official story lends this choice a form of recognition towards this country which took care of its father, in the grip of a long illness, until his death in 2021. Emotion does not prevent the opportunism of a approach which will make life easier for the teenager to travel from one tournament to another and allow her brother to go to college in the United States. But tennis France, which still sorely lacks a new generation worthy of the illustrious Pierce and Mauresmo, will be able to cope with it. What wouldn’t we do for one or two major tournaments?