Opening Night at the 2024 US Open saw a stunning comeback by Frenchwoman Clara Burel as she defeated the former champion Sloane Stephens. An emotional rollercoaster of a match saw Burel recover from a shaky start to win 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a contest lasting just over two hours.
Well, it was just the exact opposite in terms of fortunes as Stephens stormed ahead, taking the opening set 6-0, and racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set. At this point, it seemed that Burel would be out of this tournament in real quick time, with Stephens assuming the form that won her the 2017 US Open.
Finding Her Rhythm
Undeterred by such early setbacks, Clara Burel was not quite ready to throw in the towel. With the tennis world watched by a large audience in Arthur Ashe Stadium—among them tennis legend Billie Jean King—Burel started to find her rhythm. The shots she was hitting began to fall with some degree of precision, and she stepped up her level. She got her first ray of hope with a crucial break in the tenth game.
From there, the aggressive baseline play of Burel began to take over the match. She battled back to 5-5 in the second set. There, with new energy and determination, she held for 6-5 and then broke Stephen’s serve at love to take the set 7-5 and square the match at a set apiece. The once-subdued crowd comes alive in support of the underdog.
A Thrilling Decision
The third set was another thriller, too. Not one to easily give up, Stephens was up 5-4 and seemed to inch her way to the win over Burel. But the fighting spirit of Clara Burel proved unbreakable as she broke Stephens’s serve twice in the later moments, clinched the last three games of the set, and sealed her victory.
After the encounter, Burel explained how she felt about this intense contest, “I was nervous at the start. Sloane was playing well and moving well. I just kept pushing and decided to be more aggressive. To find a way to win is stunning,” she said.
This is a big win for Burel, as it seals her first career victory over a top-10 player and brings her head-to-head against Stephens to 1-1. Earlier this year, Stephens had beaten Burel in Dubai; hence, this victory comes as sweet revenge for the French player.
Clara Burel Upsets Sloane Stephens
Ranked No. 56 to date, the youngster has made her way into the second round to play three-time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian is 20th seeded and it took her three sets to defeat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva in her first-round match. At 23, Burel is still pretty young in the US Open scene. This year made it her fourth US Open. She has already made a name for herself by pulling out big wins in past years, taking down household names like Elena Rybakina and Karolina Pliskova.
While this victory was Clara Burel’s triumph, at the same time, it has been a milestone in her tennis career. At the beginning of this year, she had headlined for beating a top-10 player at the Australian Open, with this brilliant performance against Sloane Stephens, she is contributing much to add an exciting new chapter to her US Open story. The more the advancement of Burel in this tournament, it would be interesting to see how far this talented young player can make it in the tournament.
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