Gracheva eyes biggest title yet on clay return at W80 Cagnes-sur-Mer
Fresh from her standout run to the third round of the US Open, Varvara Gracheva will target her biggest professional title yet this week as she warms up for Roland Garros on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W80 Cagnes-sur-Mer.
The 20-year-old Russian, who made a notable Grand Slam debut in New York when she clawed her way out of a 1-6 1-5 hole to defeat Kristina Mladenovic 1-6 7-6(2) 6-0 and reach the third round, will savour a return to her favoured clay in Cagnes-Sur-Mer before her attentions turn to the biggest stage again in Paris.
All seven of Gracheva’s professional titles have come in ITF tournaments on clay, with her two most significant triumphs coming amongst a haul of five titles in 2019 – at W60+H Valencia and W60+H Saint-Malo.
While attempting to defend her title at last week’s tournament in Saint-Malo presumably came too soon for Gracheva, who chose not to enter following her exploits at the US Open, Cagnes-Sur-Mer should provide a good test of her game on the surface before Roland Garros. She begins her campaign this week against Japan's Kurumi Nara.
Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo leads the main draw, with the world No. 80 looking for valuable time on clay following her second round exit at the WTA tournament in Istanbul.
Eight of Sorribes Tormo’s nine professional singles titles have come at W25 level or lower, so the 23-year-old will be particularly keen for a landmark triumph on French soil. She starts her campaign against 18-year-old American Whitney Osuigwe, who's a strong performer on clay having collected the Roland Garros junior title in 2017.
Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic, the world No. 88, will also hope for a strong run in Cagnes-sur-Mer following an indifferent 2020 season that has seen her win back-to-back matches on just one occasion – at W60 Andrezieux-Boutheon in February.
Stojanovic won her first title at W80 level on French soil at Poitiers last year, and will be hoping to add a second W80 crown to her nine-strong collection of ITF titles in the week ahead.
Two players on the cusp of the Top 100 will also compete in Cagnes-sur-Mer, with Belgium’s Greet Minnen and Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska both hoping to break losing streaks and put together enough wins to boost their respective rankings into double digits.
Minnen is on a 6-match losing run at professional level dating back to March, while Zavatska has lost her last four matches in the same time frame.
Follow all the results from W80 Cagnes-sur-Mer as they happen here, or visit the tournament page for the draws and event information.