# Ksenia Efremova (Ксения Ефремова)
**Ksenia Efremova** (Ксения Ефремова; full name Ksenia Alexandrovna Efremova, born 2009 in Moscow) is a French tennis player who won the 2026 [Australian Open](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-open) girls' singles title and, at 14 years, 8 months, and 3 days, became the youngest ITF adult-tournament champion since Sesil Karatantcheva in 2003.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Junior peak | 2026 Australian Open girls' singles champion, beating Ekaterina Tupitsyna 6-3, 7-5; year-end 2025 ITF junior combined ranking No. 9[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) • [2](https://www.itftennis.com/media/13748/2025-girls-year-end-rankings.pdf) |
| Professional titles | Four ITF W15 singles titles, all in Monastir, Tunisia (2023-2025), plus one W15 doubles title[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) |
| Age record | First pro title in December 2023 at 14 years, 8 months, 3 days; youngest ITF champion since Sesil Karatantcheva (14 years, 4 months, 6 days) in 2003[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) |
| WTA ranking | Debuted in January 2024 at No. 1,105; career-high No. 575[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) • [3](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova) |
| Grand Slam main draw | 2026 Roland Garros wildcard; lost in the first round to 18th seed Sorana Cirstea[4](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova/record) |
## Early life and move to France
Efremova started playing tennis at age 3, coached by her mother, Julia Efremova, a former professional with 11 combined ITF singles and doubles titles who was ranked 283rd in the world in 2006.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) • [5](https://france-jeunes.net/sports/roland-garros-faut-il-attendre-ksenia-efremova-grand-espoir-tennis-feminin-francais/) Her family, including her two brothers Alexei and Vladimir, moved from Russia to the [French Riviera](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-riviera) near Nice in 2019, and from the end of that year she trained daily at the [Mouratoglou Tennis Academy](https://www.edgepedia.org/mouratoglou-tennis-academy) in the south of France under French coach Pierre Debrosse and her mother.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova)
Her entry to the academy came through a tournament prize: after winning an event in Croatia that offered a week of free training at the Mouratoglou Academy, she was spotted by [Patrick Mouratoglou](https://www.edgepedia.org/patrick-mouratoglou), founder of the Champ'seed Foundation, which has supported her since.[6](https://www.tenniseurope.org/news/148670/In-the-Spotlight-Ksenia-Efremova) Her father Alexei, an amateur player, never lived in France; he died of cancer in Germany in 2021.
## Junior career
**Breakout in 2022.** In February 2022, at age 13, Efremova won the Tim Essonne Cup, a French junior event whose past champions include [Martina Hingis](https://www.edgepedia.org/martina-hingis), Rafael Nadal, and [Zheng Qinwen](https://www.edgepedia.org/zheng-qinwen). In 2023 she defended the title, becoming the event's first back-to-back winner since Daria Gavrilova in 2006-07.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) In October 2022 she won the Tennis Europe Masters under-14 title in [Monte Carlo](https://www.edgepedia.org/monte-carlo), joining a champions list that includes Nadal, Kim Clijsters, and Belinda Bencic, and finished the year ranked No. 2 in the European under-14 rankings.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) • [7](https://champseedfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Champseed-Foundation-Annual-Activity-Report-2024-v3.2-Final-Version-ENG.pdf)
Her first ITF junior title came in 2022 at the J5 event in Zaragoza, Spain, the first of four junior titles that season; she went on to own 10 ITF junior singles titles plus five junior doubles titles.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) At her Grand Slam junior debut, the 2024 Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals as a wildcard and beat the No. 5 seed, Tereza Valentova, in the opening round.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) • [8](https://www.itftennis.com/media/15856/2026-australian-open-junior-singles-final-match-notes.pdf) In 2025 she won the J300 title in Charleroi-Marcinelle, Belgium, and finished 2025 at No. 9 in the ITF junior combined year-end rankings.[8](https://www.itftennis.com/media/15856/2026-australian-open-junior-singles-final-match-notes.pdf) • [2](https://www.itftennis.com/media/13748/2025-girls-year-end-rankings.pdf)
## Professional career
Efremova began on the ITF circuit in 2023. In November 2023, aged 14, she qualified at a tournament in [Monastir, Tunisia](https://www.edgepedia.org/monastir-tunisia), and earned her first WTA points; the following month she won the W15 Monastir title without dropping a set, defeating Germany's Selina Dal in the final. At 14 years, 8 months, and 3 days she was the youngest ITF tournament champion since Sesil Karatantcheva won at 14 years, 4 months, and 6 days in 2003.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) She added W15 Monastir titles in July 2024, October 2024, and October 2025, and reached her first W35 final in New Delhi in December 2025, losing to Park Sohyun.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova)
She debuted in the PIF WTA Rankings in January 2024 at No. 1,105 and reached a career-high of No. 575.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) • [3](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova) In 2025 she played WTA qualifying at Miami and Roland Garros, her first Tour-level events.[3](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova)
**2026 season.** Seeded third at the 2026 Australian Open junior event, Efremova trailed 3-0 in the second set of the final before winning five consecutive games and closing out a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Ekaterina Tupitsyna in 1 hour and 34 minutes, one year after a first-round exit at the same event.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova) At the time she was ranked No. 1 in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings.[9](https://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/matchnotes/2026/903_1.pdf)
At Roland Garros 2026 she received a wildcard for her [Grand Slam](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-slam-tennis) main-draw debut and lost in the first round to Romanian 18th seed Sorana Cirstea, 3-6, 1-6, earning $101,501 in prize money.[4](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova/record) • [10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2026/05/24/roland-garros-2026-new-crop-of-french-tennis-talents-emerges_6753776_9.html) She was one of six French women given Roland Garros wildcards that year.[11](https://as.com/tenis/roland_garros/wawrinka-y-monfils-tendran-un-ultimo-baile-en-roland-garros-f202605-n/) At the 2026 US Open junior event she won the first round of the girls' doubles with Paola Piñera.[12](https://as.com/tenis/us_open/pinera-se-queda-sola-f202609-n/)
## Standing in French tennis
French media have described Efremova as one of the country's leading young prospects. In 2025, *Le Monde* called the then 15-year-old "the great hope of French tennis" and noted that her coach at the time, Emmanuel Planque, had earlier contributed to the development of Varvara Gracheva and [Mirra Andreeva](https://www.edgepedia.org/mirra-andreeva).[13](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/03/17/la-degringolade-du-tennis-feminin-francais-sans-espoir-de-rebond-a-court-terme_6582647_3242.html) By mid-2026 she was again working with Pierre Debrosse and her mother, and she described a difficult stretch in her game after a second-round junior exit at Wimbledon 2026.[14](https://www.lequipe.fr/Tennis/Actualites/La-periode-compliquee-de-ksenia-efremova-plus-entrainee-par-emmanuel-planque-et-eliminee-au-2e-tour-de-wimbledon-chez-les-juniors-un-probleme-dans-mon-jeu/1702301) Born in Moscow and naturalized French in 2023, she attended both the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Biot and the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes after arriving in France.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2026/05/24/roland-garros-2026-new-crop-of-french-tennis-talents-emerges_6753776_9.html)
## References
1. [Five things to know about Australian Open girls' champion Ksenia Efremova, WTA Tour](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4442400/five-things-to-know-about-australian-open-girls-champion-ksenia-efremova)
2. [ITF Juniors Tennis, Girls Combined Rollover Year-End Rankings, 15 December 2025](https://www.itftennis.com/media/13748/2025-girls-year-end-rankings.pdf)
3. [Ksenia Efremova, Player Stats & More, WTA Official](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova)
4. [Ksenia Efremova, Grand Slams Record, WTA Official](https://www.wtatennis.com/players/334255/ksenia-efremova/record)
5. [Ksenia Efremova : biographie et parcours à Roland-Garros 2026, France-Jeunes](https://france-jeunes.net/sports/roland-garros-faut-il-attendre-ksenia-efremova-grand-espoir-tennis-feminin-francais/)
6. [In the Spotlight: Ksenia Efremova, Tennis Europe](https://www.tenniseurope.org/news/148670/In-the-Spotlight-Ksenia-Efremova)
7. [Champ'seed Foundation 2024 Annual Activity Report](https://champseedfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Champseed-Foundation-Annual-Activity-Report-2024-v3.2-Final-Version-ENG.pdf)
8. [2026 Australian Open junior singles final match notes, ITF](https://www.itftennis.com/media/15856/2026-australian-open-junior-singles-final-match-notes.pdf)
9. [Match Notes, Roland Garros 2026, WTA](https://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/matchnotes/2026/903_1.pdf)
10. [2026 French Open: New crop of French tennis talents emerges, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2026/05/24/roland-garros-2026-new-crop-of-french-tennis-talents-emerges_6753776_9.html)
11. [Wawrinka y Monfils tendrán un último baile en Roland Garros, AS](https://as.com/tenis/roland_garros/wawrinka-y-monfils-tendran-un-ultimo-baile-en-roland-garros-f202605-n/)
12. [Piñera se queda sola, AS](https://as.com/tenis/us_open/pinera-se-queda-sola-f202609-n/)
13. [La dégringolade du tennis féminin français, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/03/17/la-degringolade-du-tennis-feminin-francais-sans-espoir-de-rebond-a-court-terme_6582647_3242.html)
14. [La période compliquée de Ksenia Efremova, L'Équipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/Tennis/Actualites/La-periode-compliquee-de-ksenia-efremova-plus-entrainee-par-emmanuel-planque-et-eliminee-au-2e-tour-de-wimbledon-chez-les-juniors-un-probleme-dans-mon-jeu/1702301)
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*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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