ITF

30 ITFWorld // WINTER 2018 SPORT IS AWASH WITH THEORIES ON COPING WITH CONSISTENT FAILURE TO SURPASS THE FINAL, MOST DECISIVE, HURDLE, AND whatever philosophy adopted by Clara Burel during 2018, she conquered any demons she might harbour in Chengdu. Burel arrived at the 2018 ITF Junior Masters following a highly productive season but had no silverware to show for her endeavours, having lost in the final of two Grand Slams – the Australian and US Open – and the Youth Olympic Games. She would depart the Far East, however, with a sparkling new trophy and as the top-ranked junior girls' player on the planet, with her exploits at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre enough to usurp China's Wang Xiyu as world No. 1. It proved a cathartic experience for Burel, who also Clara Burel ended her title search as Brandon Nakashima proved lightning can strike twice, reports Ross McLean gained revenge on Liang En Shuo of Chinese Taipei, who had beaten her in Melbourne in January, during a rain- interrupted semifinal which did not finish until close to 10pm. The final itself, against Colombia's Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, was no walk in the park and Burel, blighted by double faults, was forced to recover from a 5-2 deficit in the first set and 4-1 and then 6-4 down in the tiebreak. Although Osorio Serrano had her chances, the second set was more of a formality, and Burel prevailed 76(6) 61 to become the first French player to win the ITF Junior Masters, with this being the fourth edition. "It is my first trophy of the year. I have had some tough finals and it has been very painful for me to lose every time in the final so I'm very happy to get my hands on the trophy," said Rennes-born Burel. "I didn't play my best tennis, but the title will give me a lot of confidence." The two finalists had both emerged from Group Liang following the round-robin stage of the tournament. In fact, Burel had already beaten Osorio Serrano in their group match, while she also overpowered Eleonora Molinaro of Luxembourg. She was then handed a walkover as Wang Xiyu was forced to retire from the tournament due to a rib injury. Wang Xiyu's withdrawal followed defeat to Osorio Serrano, who had to fight all week to counteract defeat and a rather listless showing against Burel on the opening day. But battle she did. Osorio Serrano, who had sportingly donned an inflatable panda costume along with fellow Smells like Tseng Chun Hsin wowed crowds at times but fell short in the final Adrian Andreev and Hugo Gaston at the draw ceremony at Du Fu Cottage Clara Burel and Brandon Nakashima with their trophies I T F J U N I O R M A S T E R S

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