Julia Riera and a dream week: she is a semifinalist in her first WTA tournament

Julia Riera is living a dream week in WTA 250 of Rabat, the event that marked her debut in the most important circuit of women’s tennis. The 20-year-old Argentine, ranked 195th, entered the semifinals this Thursday by beating the Kazakh 5-7, 6-4 and 6-2 Yulia Putintseva61st in the world and sixth favorite of the tournament, in two hours and 26 minutes of play.

With the victory he ensured that he climbed to at least 148th place in the world rankings and achieved one of the goals he set for himself for this season, to enter the top 150. And thanks to this performance he also guaranteed a place in the quality of Wimbledonanother of his goals for this year and which he had not yet managed to achieve, narrowly missing the Roland Garros.

This Friday – from 8 o’clock in our country – he will try to advance to his first final when he faces the Austrian julia graber74th in the WTA, which prevailed 6-3 and abandoned against the blue Martina Trevisantop favorite and reigning champion.

After falling short of the French Grand Slam rankings, Riera entered straight into the Rabat tournament, taking advantage of the fact that many of the players above her in the rankings opted to play that earlier stage this week in Paris. And on Moroccan clay she surprised with solid tennis and mental strength, which allowed her to beat much more experienced rivals.

In the first round, she had a huge win against the French Kristina Mladenovic, former number ten in the rankings (now 165th after overcoming some injuries), whom he beat 6-3 and 6-0. And in the second, she got her first win against a top 100 player by beating the Egyptian 7-5 with a brace Mayar Sheriffseeded third and 55th in the world.

Riera started playing tennis at the age of 7 at Parchment Gymnastics and Fencing Club and it didn’t take long for her talent to stand out. However, in 2015, at 13, she hung up her racket, tired of the difficulties and commitments of a sport in which she usually does everything uphill. The following year, a call from Daniele Orsanicothen director of development of the AT extension, motivated her to start over. And since I’ve been back on the pitch, he hasn’t stopped growing.

In this 2023 he made a huge leap. Between April 17 and 30 you won two titles ITF W25 threaded Guayaquil and, thanks to these consecrations, he broke the barrier of the top 200 for the first time. Those two trophies were added to the three he already had in his palmares: two V15s in Antalya in 2021 and a W25 in Trieste in 2022.

He was also one of the figures of the Argentine team that won the Group I Americas undefeated, in mid-April in Cúcuta, and qualified for the playoffs of the Billie Jean King Cup 2023. In the Colombian city he won the six matches he played, five in singles and one in doubles. For that performance, she was chosen by the fans to receive the “Heart Award”which honors female tennis players who represent their countries in that tournament with distinction, display exceptional courage on the court and outstanding commitment to the ideals of the competition.

In Rabat it has already become the surprise of the competition. But, in the best moment of his career, he is not satisfied and this Friday he will try another twist.