14-year-old Efremova begins Australian Open juniors campaign with upset over fifth seed

French teenager Ksenia Efremova began her Australian Open junior campaign with a first round win over fifth seed Tereza Valentova in straight sets.

The 14-year-old, who became the youngest to win an ITF pro tour title in 20 years just a few weeks ago, defeated the 16-year-old Valentova 7-6 (2), 6-4 to move into the second round of the girls singles event.

Efremova, who trains at the Mouratoglou Academy in France, needed one hour and 44 minutes for the win, which puts her into second round against Japan’s Hayu Kinoshita.

This is the first time that Efremova is playing a junior Grand Slam and the world No 100 in juniors needed a wild card to enter the tournament.

In an interview earlier this month, the French teen said she wants to have a deep run in Melbourne and was hoping to reach the finals here.

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