We don’t stop Fiona Ferro, end of the journey for Clara Burel

  • Fiona Ferro no longer knows how to lose

Since the deconfinement and the resumption of the season, Fiona Ferro has found the recipe to chain the victories. Daughter of a couple of restaurateurs (in Valbonne, in the Alpes-Maritimes), the 23-year-old Frenchwoman has just signed against the Romanian Patricia Maria Tig (7-6 [7], 4-6, 6-0) a 18e victory in rank to reach the round of 16, a first for her in a Grand Slam.

Victorious in the tournaments in Nice and Cannes (organized by the French Tennis Federation when it resumed this summer), then in Palermo on the WTA circuit, Ferro had to give up the US Open afterwards due to edema to a rib. But confidence has not evaporated for the current 49e world, its best ranking.

And it was necessary to win this marathon of 2:49 against an opponent capable of serving the lead and some lightning. ” I am especially happy with my attitude, because tennis was not terrible today. I think I can do better than that, but I found solutions by varying a lot in the third set ”, she analyzed as lucid as demanding with herself at the microphone of France 2.

A discreet who doubted herself

For a long time, however, Ferro doubted his talent. As if she suffered, a little, from impostor syndrome. “Before, I had a little trouble feeling in my place, she confessed in an interview with the team before the tournament. During the last two years, it was a little less present and now it is not. ” Before this edition, Roland-Garros was not really his garden by the way with four defeats in the first round in five participations.

This blockage is now a thing of the past. Like others. Ferro became aware of her qualities, especially that forehand slap which is quite unique in women’s tennis. With his new coach, Emmanuel Planque, the native of Libramont, Belgium, is now seeking to impose his game.

“Before, when I was facing big hitters, I thought I was powerless and that they had to miss for me to take stock, she said after her victory in the second round on Thursday. So I was just playing to make them miss. Now I know I can impose my game.

But not enough to change his personality. Ferro does not seek the light and does not even have an official equipment supplier (yet). “I like the discretion. I want to stay on simple things, tennis and the game. I try not to add more », Assures the one who attacks a client in the next round in the person of the American Sofia Kenin, seeded n ° 4 and winner of the last Australian Open. But the discreet Fiona Ferro is no longer forbidden to do anything.

  • No tears but regrets for Burel

Despite three first set balls, Clara Burel, 19, was eliminated in the third round on Saturday by China's Zhang Shuai (7-6, 7-5).

We do not really know what can disturb Clara Burel. A lion would have entered the Simonne-Mathieu court this Saturday, October 3 that it would probably have remained unmoved. For his 3e turn facing the Chinese Zhang Shuai, the French had left her tennis in the locker room, but she never vented her frustration in public with a gesture of humor or a bird’s name addressed to herself. She just got her hands on her hips after conceding her throw-in for the fourth time in the second set.

For two hours, the two players played “you take my service, I’ll take yours”, and in this little game, it was the French who was the most generous, beaten 7-6 , 7-5. The French revelation of this 19-year-old Roland-Garros still has a lot to learn, which is normal when you participate for the first time in the big picture of a Grand Slam.

Read also Roland-Garros: with Clara Burel and Hugo Gaston, French tennis relies on its youth

Clara Burel may have regrets, it is not the opportunities that were missing. The Rennaise had three balls in the first set at 5-4, but she was too passive when it came time to conclude, leaving her opponent – who fell from Alizé Cornet in the previous round – to come back. At 6-5, she served a second time for the win in the first inning after Zhang Shuai collapsed in her own service game. Again, wait and see, she let the Chinese dictate the exchange. And Burel collapsed in the tie-break (2-7).

The Frenchwoman had the opportunity to take control from the start of the second set to lead 2-0, which she spoiled. The sun finally appeared on the court, but still not the inspiration for the former world number one in juniors. The encouragement of spectators in colorful down jackets changed nothing. Overwhelmed by the acceleration of the Chinese, who had already beaten in two sets in Strasbourg ten days ago, the French stalled each time in service. On a final direct foul from Clara Burel on the forehand, Zhang Shuai could roar with joy.

“It was played at a few points, I did not know how to seize the opportunities I had in the two sets, that’s what made the difference today, Laconically reacted the Breton, who will not imitate her comrade Hugo Gaston. I have a little everything to improve in my game, but above all I have to work on my serve to be able to use it as a weapon. There is a lot of disappointment but I will try to see the positive of this tournament, I will remember that I am capable of beating girls from the Top 50. “

Arrival 357e world at Roland after an operation on the left wrist in May 2019 which stopped her for a year in her tracks, here she is virtually at 240e rank. There is no doubt that we will quickly regain his sense of the game and his false nonchalance.

The world

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