The talented Clara Burel takes on 8th seed Varvara Gracheva in the round of 16 of the WTA Angers Arena Loire Open on Thursday.
Burel will be hoping to reach her second consecutive quarterfinal in what has been a frustrating season for the former junior world No. 1. She came into the tournament after reaching the quarterfinals in the WTA Montevideo Open last month.
In the first round, Burel bounced back miraculously from a set down to defeat Karolina Muchova. The young Frenchwoman looked out of sorts in the first set but managed to dig deep to win the second set. In the decisive third set, Burel played quite smoothly and finished the match 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. This hard-fought win will surely hold her in good stead going forward.
The Russian tennis pro had a fine campaign in the WTA 125 event in Rouen. She made it to the semifinals. However, she didn’t have good results in the ITF event in Tampico, Mexico, and the WTA 125 event in Midland, USA.
Gracheva has begun her campaign in Angers with a bang. She faced France’s Tessah Andrianjafitrimo in the round of 32. Gracheva was the favorite going into the match and she lived up to her billing by offering a comprehensive 6-0, 6-3 thrashing.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-0 in favor of Clara Burel. She got the better of Varvara Gracheva in a one-sided affair in Strasbourg in 2021.
Prediction: Clara Burel to win in three sets.
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