16-year-old Frenchwoman Ksenia Efremova won the Junior Girls’ Australian Open title at Melbourne Park on Sunday, beating Russia’s Ekaterina Tupitsyna 6-3 7-5 in cool conditions at Rod Laver Arena.
For example, now I’m going to play 125K [tournament] in Paris, WTA, which will be a good tournament… To be ready for next year, my goal is to become Top 200 and participate in the [qualifying]you know, from the Grand Slams and of course all the other tournaments. Ksenia Efremova
In doing so, Efremova etched her name in history, becoming the first French AO junior champion since 1999, when Virginie Razzano won the title here.
Playing at Rod Laver Arena was a change for Efremova, who not only received advice from a Top 10 player for the final, but also drew on her experience on center court at Roland Garros.
“The pitch was different. It was definitely slower because I played on Margaret Court yesterday. It was much faster.” she explained. ‘I know [Alexander] Bublik also said it was slower, and I was actually prepared for it to be different, but it’s huge.
“But I’m also glad I had the opportunities, you know, like the last six months I’ve been practicing [the] French Federation in Paris, Chatrier, the court, which is also huge. I got used to that because I practiced on clay every time.
“When I came to Rod Laver, I was kind of ready for that, you know, for the huge stadium.”
© Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
The girls final provided plenty of drama, with plenty of momentum and a 10-minute medical timeout from Tupsyna midway through the second set.
Efremova raced out of the blocks, taking a double lead and appearing to be cruising, before Tupitsyna settled down and found her range.
The third-seeded Frenchwoman dug in her heels and held on to take the opening set, but Tupsyna began to dictate play in the second with her aggressive and precise groundstrokes.
With a 3-0 lead, Tupitsyna suddenly called the trainer, who took her off the field for a medical timeout, and she returned with her leg tightly strapped.
The 17-year-old Russian was visibly grim and at times tearful as Efremova took full advantage of her now ailing opponent, dropping five straight matches to take a 5-3 lead, then closing out the win in an hour and 34 minutes to capture the 2026 AO Girls singles title.
The victory marks a remarkable turnaround for Efremova, who comes just a year after exiting the first round at the event, but it was two years ago, at the age of 14, that the French girl reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
“Two years ago I did [made] quarter-finals, and I said to myself, ‘Okay, you can come back next year or next year [after]and you should get the trophy,” Efremova said after receiving the championship trophy. “So thank you very much everyone. and I hope to see you soon.”
Ksenia Efremova needed one hour and 34 minutes to beat Ekaterina Tupitsyna on Day 15 of the 2026 Australian Open at Melbourne Park
© Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Ksenia, the daughter of former Russian professional player Julia Vorobieva and amateur player Alexey Efremov, has been in the spotlight from a young age.
“It’s always kind of a tradition when I win a tournament, every time I call her, or even the semi-finals,” the teenager said after speaking to her mother in France. “Even if she’s asleep, it doesn’t matter. I wanted to wake her up with the good news.”
Efremova was born in Moscow in 2019 and started playing tennis at the age of 3, coached by her mother.
Her family, including her two brothers, Alexei and Vladimir, moved from Russia to France in 2019, where she began training at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy under current coach Pierre Debrosse, becoming a French citizen in 2023.
She won her first ITF junior title in 2022 at the J5 Zaragoza event in Spain, the first of four she won that season, and now owns 10 ITF junior singles titles, plus her Australian Open title, and 5 junior doubles titles, while she has also won 4 ITF W15 titles, all in Monastir, Tunisia.
Although she had a flight booked later on Sunday evening, Efremova still had time to enjoy an important aspect of Melbourne culture.
“So I already had time to visit Melbourne Zoo,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. I saw a lot of gorillas, I made a nice video of them. I was happy with that.”
AO Girls champion Ksenia Efremova poses with runner-up Ekaterina Tupitsyna and their respective trophies on Sunday
© Martin Keep/AFP via Getty Images
The junior AO champion now has her sights set on the WTA tour, but knows she must choose her tournaments wisely due to age restriction rules.
“Yes, definitely, I would definitely play more professional tournaments,” she added. “The thing is that they have a restriction on playing unlimited tournaments, so I will definitely continue to play Grand Slam juniors and some major tournaments, and I will concentrate more on the pros.
“For example, now I’m going to play 125K [tournament] in Paris, WTA, that will be a good tournament.”
Efremova is currently ranked number 583 on the WTA tour and already has huge ambitions for 2026 and beyond.
“To be ready for next year, my goal is to get into the Top 200 [qualifying]”You know, from the Grand Slams and of course all the other tournaments,” she said.
Now a junior AO champion and having won 27 of her last 29 matches, Efremova is a player on the rise and one who should be pegged as a future star of the game.
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