Clara Burel is a French professional tennis player who was born on March 24, 2001, in Rennes, France. After being introduced to the sport at age 6, it was immediately clear that the young French girl had some serious talent.
She put this gift to good use in her junior years, enjoying a flourishing stint that saw her reach the finals of the girl's Grand Slam events at the Australian Open and the US Open in 2018. Soon after, she was graced with her WTA main draw debut, at the 2019 Australian Open. Despite coming up short in the first round, this spurred her on to achieve bigger and better things.
She made the most of a heavily disrupted 2020 season to push up the rankings, including a stellar run at home Slam Roland Garros, reaching the third round. Following sustained progress at the highest level, it was not long before Burel reached the latter stages of tournaments.
Her first taste at a shot of gold came at the Lausanne Open in 2021 when she came up agonizingly short against number 1 seed Tamara Zidansek in the final. Up until 2023 was a key period for the French youngster, with her ticking off some milestones in anyone’s career: her first time in the Top 100, her WTA 1000 debut, and first wins at that level, as well as her first time in the third round of Grand Slams such as the US Open.
By the end of the 2023 season, the only thing missing from Burel’s stunning run was silverware. She did claim some before the end of the calendar year, with her winning the WTA 125 event in Angers for what was her first taste of tournament victory since her stint on the ITF Tour.
As expected, she climbed up the rankings further into 2024, with the French woman arriving in the world's Top 50 ahead of going into her home Slam with the weight of a nation’s hopes resting on her shoulders. All that remains for her now is winning that all-important first WTA trophy.
