Clara Tauson

Clara Tauson (born 21 December 2002) is a Danish female tennis player.

Clara Tauson
Clara Tauson, winner of the 2019 Meitar Open
Country (sports) Denmark
ResidenceKongens Lyngby, Denmark
Born (2002-12-21) 21 December 2002
Gentofte Hospital, Denmark
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 49,085
Singles
Career record70–17 (80.5%)
Career titles6 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 211 (9 March 2020)
Current rankingNo. 211 (9 March 2020)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open JuniorW (2019)
French Open Junior3R (2018)
Wimbledon Junior2R (2018)
US Open Junior2R (2018)
Doubles
Career record3–3 (50.0%)
Highest rankingNo. NR
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open JuniorSF (2018)
Wimbledon Junior1R (2018)
Team competitions
Fed Cup5–5 (50.0%)
Last updated on: 20 March 2020.

At age 13 in 2016 she became the youngest Danish champion in tennis.[n 1] She won the tennis girls single event at the European youth Olympic in 2017 and the European Junior Championship in 2018. On ITF Junior Circuit she has won nine single tournaments, with the 2019 Australian Open title as the greatest. At ITF Junior Masters 2018 she was the youngest player of the tournament and won bronze medal. In 2019 she became the first Danish girl to top the junior world ranking in combined singles and double.[n 2]

Her debut on ITF Women's Circuit came in September 2017.[n 3] Here she has won five finals, the first at the age of 14. Her WTA debut came in April 2019.

Playing for Denmark at the Fed Cup, Tauson has accumulated a win–loss record of 5–5.[4]

Playing style

Tauson is right-handed and hits a double backhand. According to herself, her best weapon is her forehand while her favorite shot is the stopball and her favorite surface is clay.[5][6] In a comparison to Caroline Wozniacki she has declared that she is more aggressive and goes to the net more often than Caroline.[7] Wozniacki, who has trained with her, calls her strong and aggressive.[8]

Career

2008-2015: Early club career and Europe Junior Tour

At age 6, Tauson started playing foam tennis in Nærum Tennis Club and changed one year later to real tennis.[9] Earlier on she had practiced swimming.[5] She played for some years in Lyngby Tennis Club, where she in 2011 won the girls U9 tournament at the Zealand championships and the club championship for girls U10.[10] She changed club to Gentofte Tennis Club and in 2014 she became three times Danish U12 champion, winning girls single, girls double and mixed double. The latter she won with Holger Nødskov Rune representing Hellerup Sports Club (HIK). [11]

She debuted on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour (competitions in Europe for players aged under 17) 26 August 2013 when she participated in KB Tennis’ Girls-12 tournament, with a defeat in the first round.[12] On the European Junior Tour she played six Girls-12 and three Girls-14 tournaments with two semifinals as best result.[13] In 2015 she played nine Girls-14 tournaments on Tennis Europe Junior Tour. First final and tournament victory came when she won the KB Tennis’ tournament in June.[14] During the rest of the year she made three more finals with one win.[15]

2016: ITF Junior Circuit and Danish champion

On 15 February, Tauson debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit (the premier level for worldwide competition among U18 tennis players) when she participated in KB Tennis' international tournament called DISPUK Copenhagen Winter Cup 2016.[16] During the year she took part in ten single ITF Junior Circuit-tournaments. She reached five finals winning one. In addition, she played eight tournaments in girls double. Of these she reached four finals winning one. The best junior result came 11 November and 12 November at the Grade-4 tournament ITF Junior Championships in Dubai. As top seeded Tauson won the tournament in both single and double.[17]

Tauson ended 230 on ITF’s junior ranking. She was awarded Danish Junior tennis player of the year for her overall performance.[18] At club level, Clara Tauson became Danish champion for teams with Gentofte Tennisklub's ladies.[19] In August she became the youngest female Danish champion in single at age 13. She thereby beat Caroline Wozniacki's record of age 14.[20] She changed club from Gentofte Tennisklub to Hellerup Tennis Club (HIK Tennis) in September.[21] Her coaches in Hellerup was among others Kenneth Carlsen and Tine Scheuer-Larsen.[22] Her uncle Michael Tauson worked as club manager and assisting coach.[23]

2017: First Grand Slam appearance and debut in a senior tournament
Tauson wins Stockholm Ladies, 2017.

She played 12 single and eight double tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit winning one of each.[24] She was awarded Danish Junior Tennis Player second year in a row.[25]

On 20 April, Tauson made her debut for the Denmark Fed Cup team at a group B match against Egypt. Tauson lost her double with partner Mai Grage but Denmark won the match 2-1.[26]

At the European Youth Olympic Festival held in Hungary in July, she was top seeded in the tennis tournament and won without losing a set.[27][28] In September she made her Grand Slam debut by entering the qualification for the junior competition of US Open.[29] However, she lost the first match and did not make it to the main round.[30]

Still 14 years old, she debuted on the ITF Circuit in September. She played three tournaments, reaching two finals with one win. The first tournament was in Antalya, Turkey in which she got to a semifinal.[31] On 31 October Clara Tauson entered the WTA world-ranking, when she unseeded reached the final in Djursholm Open in Stockholm. She lost but earned seven world-ranking points.[32] Next week she took the first senior-title by winning Stockholm Ladies advancing to 743 on the world-ranking as the youngest on the list.[33][34]

2018: European Junior Championship and ITF Junior Masters
Denmarks Fed Cup team with Tauson, second from left

Tauson played 13 tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit, reaching six finals in single with five wins. In double she won two finals and lost two.[35] Her best junior Grand Slam was French Open, which was also her first main round appearance. She reached third round in single and a semi final in double.[36] At the end of the year she won bronze at the ITF Junior Masters a parallel tournament to WTA Finals.[37] She was only nine on the ranking but got in on a cancellation.[38]

Her biggest victories were the European Junior Championship in girls' singles in Switzerland and Osaka Mayor's Cup her first Grade-A tournament win. At the European Championships she was the youngest participant but was allowed in on the oldest level due to her ranking.[39][40]

At Fed Cup in Athen in April, she and the rest of the Danish team secured advancement to the third highest level for national teams in competition with Egypt, Greece and Israel.[41]

During the year she shared the newly instigated talent award "C WorldWide Talentprisen" with her U12 mix-double partner Holger Rune. It had a prize sum of 100,000 DKK (c. $15,000)[42] She also got a major sponsor contract with Japanese sports equipment producer Yonex.[43] She ended fourth combined on the ITF junior ranking and 863 on the WTA single ranking.[44]

2019: Australian Open, junior top ranking and WTA Tour debut
Rod Laver Arena, the site of the 2019 Australian Open finals

Tauson was for the third year in a row awarded Danish Junior Tennis Player, for the second in a row C WorldWide Talentprisen (this time undivided) and for the first time Danish Olympic Hope.[45][46]

She played her first Australian Open Grand Slam. Here she was top seeded in girls single and won this title as the first Danish girl.[47] The next week she also became the first Dane to top the girls single world ranking.[48]

In February, she represented Denmark in Fed Cup in a match against Russia and Poland in Group I Europe/Africa.[49] She lost her single matches and Denmark was over-all relegated to Group II.[50][51]

The first senior-title of the year was in the Magic Tours in Tunesia.[52] In April she entered her first WTA tournament on a qualifiers wildcard at Lugano in Switzerland.[53] She made it to the main tournament and lost her first round match.[54] She ended the year as 267 on the WTA ranking.[55]

2020: COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic meant that professional tennis tounaments were cancelled during spring 2020.[56]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Tauson has participated in five junior Grand Slam events under ITF in both singles and doubles. Her best result is a singles win at the 2019 Australian Open.[57]

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 2019 Australian Open Hard Leylah Annie Fernandez 6–4, 6–3

ITF Finals

Tauson has participated in 13 ITF Women singles tournaments since September 2017. She has been in eight finals and won five.[58]

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 / $80,000 tournaments
$50,000 / $60,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 / $15,000 tournaments

Singles: 9 (6 titles, 3 runner–ups)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2017 ITF Stockholm, Sweden 15,000 Hard (i) Jacqueline Awad 4–6, 0–6
Win 1–1 Nov 2017 ITF Stockholm, Sweden 15,000 Hard (i) Ekaterina Yashina 6–3, 6–2
Win 2–1 Mar 2019 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard Arianne Hartono 6–2, 6–1
Win 3–1 Mar 2019 ITF Shenzhen, China 60,000 Hard Fangzhou Liu 6–4, 6–3
Win 4–1 Mar 2019 ITF Xiamen, China 15,000 Hard Guo Meiqi 2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 4–2 Jun 2019 ITF Kaltenkirchen, Germany 15,000 Clay Yuki Naito 6–4, 4–6, 0–6
Loss 4–3 Jun 2019 ITF Darmstadt, Germany 25,000 Clay Olga Govortsova 6–1, 7–6(7–3)
Win 5–3 Sep 2019 ITF Meitar, Israel 60,000 Hard Katharina Hobgarski 4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win 6–3 Feb 2020 ITF Glasgow, Great Britain 25,000 Hard Viktoriya Tomova 6–4, 6–0

Doubles: 1 (1 runner–up)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2019 ITF Glasgow, Great Britain 25,000 Hard Lara Salden Myrtille Georges
Kimberley Zimmermann		 6–7(2–7), 6–7(5–7)

Notes
  1. The record is for both sexes. Caroline Wozniacki held the previous record when she won in 2004, age 14.[1] The male record is 15 years by Holger N. Rune (as indoor champion). Kurt Nielsen, then age 16, had held this record since 1947. The outdoor male record belongs to Peter Bastiansen of 18 years set in 1980. [2]
  2. Caroline Wozniacki got a combined second place on the ITF junior ranking. Eva Dyrberg was no. 1 in girls double before the introduction of combined ranking.[3]
  3. ITF Women's Circuit is now ITF Women's World Tennis Tour and one step below WTA in prize money.

References
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