Efremova focused on the big prize as she continues Aussie Open charge
Sixteen-year-old Ksenia Efremova of France has not received too much media attention to-date but this could be about to change, particularly if she continues her march towards the latter stages of the Australian Open girls' draw.
Efremova is one of the players in Melbourne to have already made a significant mark within professional tennis but remains still eligible – and hungry – to win junior silverware.
“I know how many players want to win the title here," said Efremova, who is seeded No. 3 at the Australian Open Junior Championships. "Everyone is hungry for it and you have to accept that all the players will show their best.
“Players will come and say, ‘okay, I’m playing the seed, I'm going to try everything’. So, as a seeded player, it is a case of ‘get used to it’, and it is good, it means you are one of the best.”
Minutes after her 6-2 1-6 6-0 second-round win over the Ukraine’s Polina Skliar, the immaculately turned out Efremova was whisked to a Tennis Australia photography studio before settling down for a chat – and she is excellent value.
The severe heat which meant play on the outside courts began at 9am on Tuesday, which Efremova concedes was a welcome development.
“For me, it's perfect to play because you've done your match, you're off and you can then do whatever you want," added Efremova, who will play Canada's Nadia Lagaev for a place in the quarter-finals. "It sounds very strange to start to early, but I love it.”
Efremova possesses a maturity and perspective that will stand her in good stead once she move into the professional ranks on a full-time basis.
Born in Moscow, she moved with her parents to the Mouratoglou Academy in the south of France when she was about 10 years old but has been based in Paris, at the French Tennis Federation, for the past year.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were two players she admired growing up.
“You just look up to them and you try to see what they are there doing differently and try to follow their steps," she added. "I really like Maria because she's different than the others.”
Efremova arrived in Melbourne in good form after reaching the final of the J300 Traralgon tournament last week, where she lost to China’s Xinran Sun – an opponent she beat at the US Open Junior Championships last September.
“I was very disappointed about my final but then I took it in a good way because I still won five matches against the same field who are now here,” she said.
The 2023 Australian Open girls' final between Alina Korneeva and Mirra Andreeva happened to come up in conversation. Efremova was unaware that Saturday’s girls' final will be played on Rod Laver Arena. Knowing that provides an instant boost, as does the mention of Andreeva.
“She knows me and I know her but we don’t really talk much,” said Efremova, who insists Andreeva is "very organised".
This is Efremova’s third Australian Open – she reached the quarter-finals on her Junior Grand Slam debut here in 2024 – and the seventh Grand Slam main draw she has contested. Melbourne is a place she is getting to know well.
“I have been Melbourne Zoo previously when I have had time," she said. "It was amazing, I was walking around for three hours.”
No sightseeing is on the cards at the moment, however. Efremova means business.
A full list of results from the 2026 Australian Open Junior Championships is available here.