Young and talented Clara Burel takes on Russian teenager Erika Andreeva in the round of 16 of the Open de Limoges on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old is one win away from reaching her third consecutive quarterfinal and fourth overall in this season. She will look to use her recent good form to progress further in the competition.
Burel got her campaign in Limoges off to a flying start. She made light work of sixth seed Sara Errani in the round of 32. The match ended in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in favor of the young Frenchwoman. However, Burel did not play her best match as she only had a win percentage of 57 on the first serve and also committed 6 double faults. Burel will have to produce tighter performances going forward in the competition.
The 18-year-old is playing in a tournament after quite some time. She played her last match prior to Limoges in the ITF event in Spain in October. Andreeva had made it to the semis in that event.
Andreeva was set to face the second seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the round of 32. However, the Belarusian veteran pulled out of the tournament prior to the match and Andreeva progressed to the next round. Andreeva, currently ranked 136 will have to be near her best to give the in-form former junior world No. 1 a run for her money.
Clara Burel and Erika Andreeva have faced each other on one previous occasion. That encounter came in the round of 32 of an ITF event in the USA in August. Andreeva was leading 6-1, 3-0 when Burel retired.
Prediction: Clara Burel to win in three sets.
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