For a surprise, it’s a big surprise. Seeded No. 5, the American Jessica Pegula was knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open by the French Clara Burel. The Rennaise, moreover, did not do things by halves by sticking two dry sets to her opponent of the day (6-4, 6-2) in a little over an hour. Quickly done well done.
This is the first victory of Clara Burel’s career against a top 10 player, after five defeats, and even her first success against a member of the top 20. Pegula had a break lead in both sets (1-0 and 2-0), but his 31 unforced errors, against only nine winning shots, were fatal to him.
First third round in GC for Dodin
The American, aged 29, nevertheless remained in three quarter-finals in Melbourne, a stage of the competition that she reached but never exceeded in the four Grand Slam tournaments. Clara Burel, for her part, equals her best result in a Grand Slam. She will meet another Frenchwoman, Océane Dodin, in the third round.
Ranked 95th player in the world, the latter also put out a great performance to qualify for the third round, beating the Italian Martina Trevisan (59th). The Lille player, who also only needed two sets to qualify (6-4, 6-4), will play her first third round in a major tournament, at 27 years old.
Burel and Dodin join another Frenchwoman, Diane Parry, who qualified on Wednesday in the third round. This is the first time since 2009 that three French players have reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. And there will therefore be at least one in the round of 16.