Australian Open 2024: surprise quarter-finalist, atypical course, exceptional maturity… At 14, who is Ksenia Efremova, new phenomenon of French tennis ?

| January 25, 2024 | Sport | No Comments

Australian Open 2024: surprise quarter-finalist, atypical course, exceptional maturity... At 14, who is Ksenia Efremova, new phenomenon of French tennis ?

At 14, Ksenia Efremova dominates the 2024 Australian Junior Open. LUKAS COCH/EPA/MaxPPP – LUKAS COCH

"A walk in the park", and no set conceded at the Junior Australian Open. An agent at 10 years old. Who is Ksenia Efremova, the new phenomenon of French tennis, who brings her generation to just 14 years old despite an atypical career path ?

She has tennis in her blood, and has had an exceptional run under the Melbourne sun. At 14 years old, Ksenia Efremova has yet to find an opponent of her size at the Australian Junior Open and is crushing the competition.

After her first ITF title in Monastir (TUN) at the end of December, the young Frenchwoman confirms her potential in Melbourne. Better than that, she begins to dream and aims to be among the best. "My goal is to become a legend, to win as many Grand Slam titles as possible . I don't know the number, but I would like to win more than Stefi Graff or Serena Williams", confides the budding champion in the columns of the' Team.

The weight of a generation of young French women on her shoulders

Ksenia Efremova is one of the most precocious players of this new French generation. Ironically, she has only been French for a few months. But she alone already embodies a blue succession devoid of talent. Born in Russia, she has lived for four years on the Côte d'Azur alongside her mother, Julia, and her brothers Vladimir and Alexei. All three train within Patrick Mouratoglou's academy, through his training program "ChampSheed".

Also read: Australian Open 2024: 'I learned a lot', recalls Arthur Cazaux after his adventure in Melbourne

With this wild card awarded by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) for the Australian Open, the young Efremova benefits from enormous media visibility. Which doesn't scare her trainer. "She knows what she wants, she knows where she's going. Being so early, so convinced of certain things, I think that's what makes the difference. Enough to become the new Mary Pierce ? Only the future will tell.

A ten-year-old agent and a clear-cut family destiny

If the new Frenchwoman shows such great maturity in her game and her tactics, it is probably thanks to her mother. Julia Efremova, another model of precocity, since she was ranked 285th in the world even before turning eighteen. A career ended prematurely due to too many physical problems.

Since then, time has passed for Julia who is now taking care of her daughter's career, accompanied by a physical trainer, a professional trainer and a professional. a nutritionist, and an agent. In this area, the young Frenchwoman is also a symbol of precocity, since she has been represented by IMG since she was ten years old. Usually, the agent company only signs children from the age of fourteen. An exception made for the first time in a certain… Maria Sharapova.

A wild card at Roland-Garros in sight

With her performances "Down Under", Ksenia Efremova impressed the world of tennis. This did not escape the FFT, which could decide to invite him for the qualifying table. At 14, she could already make her debut with the big boys.

Next step for her: a quarter-final against the No.1 seed of the tournament, to further launch a career that already looks promising.

Related Posts

About The Author

magictr

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

(function(d,s){d.getElementById("licnt2061").src= "https://counter.yadro.ru/hit?t44.6;r"+escape(d.referrer)+ ((typeof(s)=="undefined")?"":";s"+s.width+"*"+s.height+"*"+ (s.colorDepth?s.colorDepth:s.pixelDepth))+";u"+escape(d.URL)+ ";h"+escape(d.title.substring(0,150))+";"+Math.random()}) (document,screen)