Clara Burel can be proud. Her first round at the US Open was simply synonymous with her first feat. The 131st in the world and from the qualifications indeed beat the winner of the last Wimbledon, the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (25th), 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday.
“I am 131st in the world, she has just won Wimbledon, she is 25th but if she had had the Wimbledon points she would be even better ranked, so it is sure that it is a small feat”, savored the Frenchwoman in reference the lack of WTA (and ATP) points given out during the grass-court Major due to the tournament’s decision to deny Russian and Belarusian players in retaliation for the war in Ukraine. At the same time, “when you see the match, I don’t think you see that she is 100 places higher than me in the standings. I was more solid and I think it showed.
The 43rd in the world awaits Burel in the next round
Faced with Rybakina, Burel was the most realistic: she made her three break points a reality and saved 8 of the 9 conceded to her opponent. La Rennaise also benefited from the large number of unforced errors committed by Rybakina (37 against 24 for Burel).
Burel, who is participating at 21 in her second New York Major (elimination in the 1st round in 2021), will face the Belgian Alison van Uytvanck (43rd) for a place in the third round. “She has a rather particular game. A bit like Rybakina, it goes very fast, she takes the ball very early so we can expect anything. I played it two years ago in Australia in the first round, I lost in a close match. She’s a very good player so it’s going to be difficult, that’s for sure, ”she analyzed about her next opponent.
A complicated season
In the meantime, her feat in the first round is all the greater as it comes as the Frenchwoman is going through a complicated season: 74th in the world at the start of the year, she had so far only won eight matches on the main circuit. and has been evolving without a coach for a few weeks. She was eliminated in the first round of the first three Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon) of the year and her best Major result to date is the third round reached at Roland-Garros in 2020 .