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Clara Burel, the No 2 seed from France, came from a set and a break down to defeat fellow countrywoman Chloe Paquet, 3-6 6-4 6-2 in the final of the Open P2i Angers Arena Loire, to lift the first WTA 125 trophy of her career.
Burel has won 9 of her past 10 matches, including a run to the Monastir semi-finals in October, followed by a victorious outing in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
The 22-year-old edges closer to a Top 50 debut with a No 51 ranking on Monday.
A two-time WTA 250 runner-up, at Lausanne 2021 and Lausanne 2023, Burel had never previously won a title above ITF W60 level.
On home soil, she battled through a trio of 3-setters in her last 3 rounds, including a 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3 quarter-final win over Russia’s Erika Andreeva, last week’s runner-up in the Andorra WTA 125 event.
In the final, Burel was up an early break at 2-1 in the first set, but her form was patchy, and No 186-ranked Paquet took control by winning 8 of the next 10 games to lead 6-3, 3-1.
Visibly frustrated, Burel was just 2 points from trailing 4-1 four times in the next game, but she was able to find her range on her backhand and drop-shot, and inched her way back into the set via a number of multi-deuce tussles.
Paquet had more chances to extend her lead when she broke again for 4-3, only to lose 8 straight games as she lapsed into error herself.
Although Burel squandered her first opportunity to serve the match out, she sealed her first championship point on the Paquet serve after producing another winner of a drop-shot.
Paquet, 29, was contesting her first WTA 125 final, and her run to the title match featured a 7-5 6-3 upset of top-seeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto from Italy in the quarter-finals, which was her 4th career Top 50 win, and her first since defeating Caroline Garcia in the second round of Jurmala 2019.
In the semi-finals, Paquet backed that up with another upset, taking out 3rd-seeded Cristina Bucsa from Spain, 7-6(3) 6-2.
No 6 seed Dayana Yastremska also reached her 3rd WTA 125 semi-final of the season, the Ukrainian having made the Last 4 on clay in Reus in May, then capturing the Kozerki title in August.
n Angers, she triumphed in a rollercoaster 5-7 6-3 7-6(9) quarter-final over McCartney Kessler, saving one match point in the deciding tiebreak against the 24-year-old American.
2023 Angers 125 doubles champions Cristina Bucsa and Monica Niculescu.
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No 1 seeds Bucsa & Monica Niculescu from Romania claimed the doubles title without dropping a set, defeating Russia’s No 2 seeds, Anna Danilina & Alexandra Panova, 6-1 6-3 in the final.
The Spanish-Romanian duo had teamed up for the first time this week.
The trophy was former doubles No 11 Niculescu’s first at any level since winning the Limoges WTA 125 in 2021 alongside Vera Zvonareva.
Bucsa had captured her first tour-level doubles title in Lyon this February alongside Bibiane Schoofs, and had also previously won two WTA 125 tournaments – Andorra 2022 with Weronika Falkowska, and Contrexéville 2023 with Alena Fomina-Klotz.
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