tennis | Monday, December 12, 2022 9:51 AM

Monday Tennis Best Bet: WTA 125K Limoges, Clara Burel vs Nefisa Berberovic

Jon Reid

Clara Burel vs Nefisa Berberovic Best Bet: Monday, December 12th

The late-season blues continue, as I begin to ponder whether I’ll win a bet in December. As a new week begins, we’ll see the continuation of the first round of the main draw on Monday from Limoges, France (the first round got underway on Sunday).

We’ll look to the match between Clara Burel and Nefisa Berberovic for our selection from this event to get our week going.

In this article:

Clara Burel vs Nefisa Berberovic Preview
Clara Burel vs Nefisa Berberovic Best Bet

Clara Burel vs Nefisa Berberovic Preview

December 12th, 16:30 UK Time

What a chance for Burel to look to find a few more wins heading into the 2023 campaign, as she plays for the second time on home soil in as many weeks – this time in Limoges.

After equaling her second best result of the season a week ago by reaching the quarterfinal of a 125K event (yes, it’s been a rough one for the Rennes native), she is a massive favourite against Berberovic in this one, as she looks to find a way to fight back into the top-100.

The talent is there for the 21-year-old, who has wins over the likes of Karolina Muchova (one of her two wins a week ago) and Elena Rybakina (at the US Open as an underdog priced over 8.00) on hard courts this season. She was a fairly highly-touted prospect, but the transition to the WTA Tour from ITF events hasn’t been the smoothest.

With an aggressive game and decent power, as well as surface versatility, the tools are there for the Frenchwoman to potentially rise up the rankings in the coming season or two. The struggle has always been with unforced errors and consistency. Luckily for her, these quicker indoor courts should allow her to keep the points relatively short, minimising the number of errors in her game.

She also has the advantage of playing Berberovic, who’s been abysmal this season. There isn’t a standout strength to her game, her movement is mediocre at best, and her backhand is a notable weakness. On return, she has a tough time wrangling the point to neutral footing, primarily because the return of serve itself is often a sitting duck. On serve, her second is another shot that often begs to be punished by the opposition.

Finally, within rallies, she can struggle at times to find effective placement with her balls. Most are left short (which isn’t ideal, as those are more attackable for one’s opponent), while others are sailed long or put into the net when she tries to find more depth to neutralise her opponent’s ability to dictate and keep her in defensive rallies.

Burel should be able to make quick work of this one, and really should if she has aspirations to make a big move back up into the top 75 again in 2023.

Clara Burel vs Nefisa Berberovic Best Bet

I’ll look to continue playing things relatively slowly for the remainder of the 2022 season, and get back to normal staking in the new season.

Considering Berberovic has a few holes to her game, Burel’s talent and the fact that the Bosnian has been blown out on a regular basis by much less talented players than the Frenchwoman, I’m content backing the under in this one.