ANDORRA OPEN: As the indoor hard court action continues, we shift our focus this week to the WTA Tour and the Andorra Open. The Andorra Open is a tournament on the WTA 125 circuit which is set to take place over one week, starting on the 27th of November.
Clara Burel – No.1 seed
22-year-old Clara Burel is a rising star on the WTA Tour but she is still yet to hit the heights that some may have expected of her when she made her Grand Slam debut aged just 18 back in 2019.
Burel has had a solid year on hard court, winning her first ever Australian Open match as well as reaching the third round of the US Open for the first time. She is still yet to pick up a WTA title but did reach he second ever final back in July.
It is not often that the Frenchwoman will have been a number one seed but that is the case in Andorra this year and she will want to take full advantage. Having not taken to the court in over a month since reaching the semi-finals of the Jasmin Open, she will want to return with a bang and set herself in good stead for what could be her real breakthrough year in 2024.
Cristina Bucșa – Eyeing singles success
Last year was the first edition of the Andorra Open on the WTA 125 circuit, but it certainly didn’t take Cristina Bucșa too long to get into her stride at the tournament as she lifted the doubles title at the first time of asking.
Not only did Bucșa go all the way in the doubles competition, she also made quite the impression on the singles court too. The 25-year-old Moldovan-born Spaniard managed to reach the semi-finals of the singles tournament where she was knocked out by the eventual winner, Alycia Parks.
That performance has earned Bucșa her spot as the second seed for this year’s edition of the tournament, and with none of the other semi-finalists from 2022 in action this year, she will certainly fancy her chances.
She is yet to reach a singles final on the WTA Tour, but as she begins to hone her solo skills she looks increasingly likely to break that duck soon, and this tournament could be the perfect opportunity.
Dayana Yastremska – Looking to complete 125 Tour double
Dayana Yastremska heads into this year’s Andorra Open as the seventh seed, having been seeded fifth when she lost out in the second round to alternate qualifier Weronika Falkowska last year.
Yastremska is still just 23-years-old, but she started her professional career back in 2015 aged just 15, when she began playing low-level events on the ITF Women’s Circuit. Since then the Ukrainian has ranked as high as 21st in the world, but her current ranking of 105th is not where she would want to be.
Yastremska has reached five finals on the WTA Tour, winning three of them, but she is without a win since May 2019. Having bowed out earlier than expected last year, she will be keen to prove a point and pick up her long-awaited fourth win on the WTA Tour as she aims to rise back up the rankings.
