Clara Tauson

Clara Tauson (born 21 December 2002) is a Danish female tennis player, who in 2016, at age 13, became the youngest Danish champion in tennis.[n 1] She has been a professional since 2017.[n 2]

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, Copenhagen, Denmark
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Turned pro2017
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 182,338
Singles
Career record90–22 (80.4%)
Career titles8 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 151 (2 November 2020)
Current rankingNo. 152 (25 January 2021)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (2021)
French Open2R (2020)
Australian Open JuniorW (2019)
Wimbledon Junior2R (2018)
US Open Junior2R (2018)
Doubles
Career record5–4 (55.6%)
Highest rankingNo. 629 (2 November 2020)
Current ranking639 (25 January 2021)
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open JuniorSF (2018)
Wimbledon Junior1R (2018)
Team competitions
Fed Cup5–5 (50.0%)
Last updated on: 2 November 2020[2].

On the amateur junior level she has won the tennis girls' singles event at the European youth Olympic in 2017 and the European Junior Championship in 2018. On ITF Junior Circuit she has won nine singles tournaments since 2016, with the 2019 Australian Open title as the greatest. In 2019 she became the first Danish girl to top the junior world ranking.[n 3]

Her professional debut on the ITF Women's Circuit came in September 2017.[n 4] She has won 8 ITF titles, the first at the age of 14. Her WTA Tour debut came in April 2019 and her first senior level Grand Slam came in September 2020.[n 5]

As a player for Denmark at the Fed Cup, Tauson has a win–loss record of 5–5.[7]

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 drop shot and her favorite surface is clay.[8][9] In a comparison to Caroline Wozniacki she has declared that she is more aggressive and goes to the net more often than Wozniacki.[10] Wozniacki, who has trained with her, agrees that she is strong and aggressive.[11]

Career

Clara Tauson started playing junior level (amateur) international tournaments in 2016 age 13. From 2017 she started playing in professional tournaments as well but has only been playing professional tournaments since summer 2019 though still under 18 at the time.

2008-2015: Early club career

At age 6, Tauson started playing foam tennis in Nærum Tennis Club and changed one year later to real tennis.[12] Earlier on she had practiced swimming.[8] 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.[13] She changed club to Gentofte Tennis Club and in 2014 she became three times Danish U12 champion, winning girls' singles, girls' doubles and mixed doubles. The latter she won with Holger Nødskov Rune representing Hellerup Sports Club (HIK). [14]

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.[15] On the European Junior Tour she played six Girls-12 and three Girls-14 tournaments with two semifinals as best result.[16] 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.[17] During the rest of the year she made three more finals with one win.[18]

2016: 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.[19] During the year she took part in ten singles ITF Junior Circuit-tournaments. She reached five finals winning one. In addition, she played eight tournaments in girls' doubles. 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 singles and doubles.[20]

Tauson ended 230th on ITF's junior ranking. She was awarded Danish Junior tennis player of the year for her overall performance.[21] At club level, Tauson became Danish champion for teams with Gentofte Tennisklub's ladies.[22] In August she became the youngest female Danish champion in singles at age 13. She thereby beat Caroline Wozniacki's record of age 14.[23] She changed club from Gentofte Tennisklub to Hellerup Tennis Club (HIK Tennis) in September.[24] Her coaches in Hellerup was among others Kenneth Carlsen and Tine Scheuer-Larsen.[25] Her uncle Michael Tauson worked as club manager and assisting coach.[26]

2017: Professional debut
Tauson wins Stockholm Ladies, 2017

She played 12 singles and eight doubles tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit winning one of each.[27] She was awarded Danish Junior Tennis Player second year in a row.[28]

On 20 April, Tauson made her debut for the Denmark Fed Cup team at a group B match against Egypt. Tauson lost her doubles with partner Mai Grage but Denmark won the match 2–1.[29]

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.[30][31] In September she made her Grand Slam debut by entering the qualification for the junior competition of US Open.[32] However, she lost the first match and did not make it to the main round.[33]

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.[34] On 31 October 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.[35] 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.[36][37]

2018: European Junior Champion
Denmarks Fed Cup team with Tauson, second from left

Tauson played 13 tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit, reaching six finals in singles with five wins. In doubles she won two finals and lost two.[38] Her best junior Grand Slam was French Open, which was also her first main round appearance. She reached third round in singles and a semi final in doubles.[39] At the end of the year she won bronze at the ITF Junior Masters a parallel tournament to WTA Finals.[40] She was only nine on the ranking but got in on a cancellation.[41]

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.[42][43]

At Fed Cup in Athens 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.[44]

During the year she shared the newly instigated talent award "C WorldWide Talentprisen" with her U12 mixed-doubles partner Holger Rune. It had a prize sum of 100,000 DKK (c. $15,000)[45] She also got a major sponsor contract with Japanese sports equipment producer Yonex.[46] She ended fourth combined on the ITF junior ranking and 863 on the WTA singles ranking.[47]

2019: Junior top ranking
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.[48][49] She received 165,000 DKK (c. $24,000) for travel expenditure from ITF.[50][n 6]

She played her first Australian Open Grand Slam. Here she was top seeded in girls' singles and won this title as the first Danish girl.[52] The next week she also became the first Dane to top the girls' singles world ranking.[53]

In February, she represented Denmark in Fed Cup in a match against Russia and Poland in Group I Europe/Africa.[54] She lost her singles matches and Denmark was over-all relegated to Group II.[55][56]

In April she entered her first WTA tournament on a qualifiers wildcard at Lugano in Switzerland.[57] She made it to the main tournament and lost her first round match.[58] She ended the year as 267 on the WTA ranking.[59]

2020: First senior Grand Slam

In February, she helped bringing Denmark back to Europe/Africa Group I in Fed Cup.[60] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic her career was put on a hold until August.

In September 2020, she broke in to the WTA Top 200 for the first time in her career. This allowed her to enter the French Open qualifications. The French Open, which was postponed due to the pandemic, was her first senior level Grand Slam appearance.

In the first round of qualification, Tauson beat Gabriela Talabă in 3 sets. In the second round of qualification, she defeated the 6th seeded Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto in straight sets (6–1,6–2) before making it to the final round of qualifications where she met Serbian Ivana Jorovic for a place in the French Open main draw. After multiple rain delays, and saving 6 set points in the first set, Tauson managed to win the match in what was, despite all appearances on paper, not a comfortable affair.

In her first main-draw Grand Slam match, Tauson went up against world No. 25, and recent US Open semifinalist, Jennifer Brady from the United States. In a nearly three hour match, Tauson defeated the American 9–7 in the deciding set to advance to the second round where she lost to Danielle Collins, another American.

Performance timelines
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles
Tournament 2020 2021 W–L
Australian Open A Q1 0–0
French Open 2R 1–1
Wimbledon NH 0–0
US Open A 0–0
Win–loss 1–1 0–0 1–1

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.[61]

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

ITF Circuit finals

Tauson has participated in 22 ITF senior singles tournaments since September 2017. She has been in ten finals and won seven.[62]

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$80,000 tournaments
$60,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments

Singles: 11 (8 titles, 3 runners–up)
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 1–6, 6–7(3–7)
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 (i) Viktoriya Tomova 6–4, 6–0
Win 7–3 Aug 2020 ITF Oeiras, Portugal 15,000 Clay María Gutiérrez Carrasco 6–3, 6–2
Win 8–3 Jan 2021 ITF Fujairah City, UAE 25,000 Hard Viktorija Golubic 6–0, 4–6, 6–3

Doubles: 1 (1 runner–up)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2020 ITF Glasgow, Great Britain 25,000 Hard Lara Salden Myrtille Georges
Kimberley Zimmermann		 6–7(2–7), 6–7(5–7)

Fed Cup
Results for Tauson representing Denmark in Fed Cup.[7][63]
Date and place Round Surface Partner Against Opponent Score Result
2017, 20 Apr., Šiauliai, Lithuania Europe/Africa Group II Hard (i) Mai Grage Egypt Ola Zekry, Rana Ahmed 6–7(5–7), 4–6 Loss
2018, 18–21 Apr., Athens, Greece Europe/Africa Group II Clay (Single) Egypt Lamis Aziz 6–4, 6–2 Win
Greece Valentini Grammatikopoulou 7–6(7–3), 6–7(4–7), 0–6 Loss
Promotional Play-off Israel Vlada Ekshibarova 6–2, 6–1 Win
2019, 6–9 Feb., Zielona Gora, Poland Europe/Africa Group I Hard (i) (Single) Russia Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6–7(3–7), 1–6 Loss
Poland Iga Świątek 3–6, 6–7(7–9) Loss
2020, 4–7 Feb., Helsinki, Finland Europe/Africa Group II Hard (i) (Single) Finland Oona Orpana 6–4, 6–2 Win
Portugal Francisca Jorge 6–1, 6–1 Win
Egypt Mayar Sherif 6–1, 6–1 Win
Promotional Play-off Tunisia Ons Jabeur 4–6, 4–6 Loss

Notes
  1. The record is for both sexes. Caroline Wozniacki held the previous record when she won in 2004, age 14.[3] 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. [4]
  2. Until summer 2019 she played junior, amateur, tournaments as well as professionals.[5]
  3. In combined singles and doubles. Caroline Wozniacki got a combined second place on the ITF junior ranking. Eva Dyrberg was no. 1 in girls' doubles before the introduction of combined ranking.[6]
  4. ITF Women's Circuit is now ITF Women's World Tennis Tour and one step below WTA in prize money.
  5. French Open, postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic
  6. For comparison, her father estimated that her travel expenditures for 2018 would be 650,000 DKK (c. $90,000).[51]

References
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