By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, April 30, 2017
Laura Siegemund edged Kristina Mladenovic in a dramatic duel, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (5), to win the Stuttgart title a year after she was runner-up.
Photo credit: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
The back-spinning ball dripped like a blotch of yellow paint on a salmon-colored canvas.
A streaking Laura Siegemund ran down the drop shot and dabbed a delicate reply inside the sideline ending a pulsating drama with one final masterstroke.
Watch: Top 10 Tweets of the Week
The German wild card persevered through a wild ride edging Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (5), to capture her hometown title in Stuttgart and thrill wildly exuberant fans.
A year after Siegemund bowed to compatriot Angelique Kerber in an all-German Stuttgart final, she capped the best week of her career with one final committed run.
Spurred on by the home crowd, the 49th-ranked Siegemund showed grit and the ability to grind defeating four Top 20 players—ninth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 3 Karolina Pliskova, fifth-ranked Simona Halep and Mladenovic—en route to the biggest title of her career.
“It was very hard for you to play against this kind of spectators,” Siegemund told Mladenovic afterward. “It was a great tournament week for you and you also would have deserved to win. And I was just a little more lucky in the end, good job. “
The 29-year-old Siegemund served for the championship at 5-4, but grew unnerved when chair umpire Marianna Alves hit her with a point penalty for a time violation. That call also sparked whistles and some boos from the Stuttgart faithful as Mladenovic broke back.
A resolute Siegemund stormed back from 1-4 down in the tie break winning six of the last seven points to conclude an epic two-and-a-half hour final.
Credit Mladenovic for a spirited fight and the class and candor she showed after a gut-wrenching loss.
“You played an insane level this week,” Mladenovic told Siegemund afterward. “You showed really entertaining tennis a big fight today you also deserve that win. I know it could go both ways, but I really want to congratulate you and your team for such a great title."
Addressing the crowd directly, Mladenovic said: “Thousands of people were kind of against me. I beat Angie earlier in this week so you were probably mad at me. And (beating) two Germans in the same week probably would have been too much. For sure, I want to thank you all for being so involved and loving so much tennis and on the other hand a little bit too much… Laura won so I think everyone can leave the stadium peacefully.”
Clad completely in black from her black headband to all black dress all the way to her black knee high-socks, Siegemund presented ominous opposition at the start earning double break point in the second game.
Reigning Roland Garros doubles champion Mladenovic showed her transition and net skills saving the first with a swing volley and erasing the second with a serve-and-volley. Two points later, Mladenovic pasted a forehand into the middle of the net as Siegemund broke for 2-0.
Exuding more energy, Siegemund was quicker around the court as she consolidated at 15 for a 3-0 lead. Changing direction shrewdly, Siegemund smacked a forehand return down the line for two more break points and stung another deep return to score her second straight break.
Fifteen minutes into the match, Siegemund snatched a 4-0 lead—just as she did sweeping fourth-seeded Simona Halep, 6-4, 7-5, in yesterday’s semifinals.
The 19th-ranked Frenchwoman tried shaking life in her legs and shortening the points by moving forward.
Down break point in the sixth game, Mladenovic tried to serve-and-volley again but was handcuffed by a low return as Siegemund broke for the third time in a row for 5-1. Siegemund served out a near flawless set at 15 in just 28 minutes.
The serve and forehand are two of Mladenovic’s most explosive assets. She began striking both with more authority in the second set. Firing a forehand down the line and following with a body serve that provoked a shanked reply, Mladenovic stamped a love hold for 2-1.
Smacking deeper returns, Mladenovic rattled out more errors as she broke for 3-1. Playing with more confidence and clarity, Mladenovic won 12 of 14 points extending her lead to 4-1 as her father, Dragan, stood and applauded his daughter’s committed comeback.
A key adjustment Mladenovic made in the second set was her commitment to whip the wide serve stretching the 5-foot-6 German and setting up her first strike. Mladenovic, who won just 35 percent of her first-serve points in the first set, claimed 80 percent (12 of 15) first-serve points in the second set.
A short angled slice backhand brought the St. Petersburg champion set point. Mladenovic won 10 of 13 points played on the two-time finalist’s second serve leveling the match after 69 minutes.
Embarking on a bathroom break, Siegemund returned recharged.
Sliding into some defensive digs, she tossed up a lob and caught a break when Mladenovic steered a smash wide. Bungling a backhand volley into net, Mladenovic faced triple break point. Siegemund punished a backhand return down the line breaking to open the final set.
Self-preservation and a kind net helped Mladenovic break back when she stuck her racquet up blocking Siegemund’s smash back. The ball collided with the tape and slowly dribbled over the net eluding Siegemund, who was a few feet from net.
After repeated apologies for the good fortune, Mladenovic confirmed the break for 2-1 racing up quickly to net and pushing a backhand down the line.
Jabbing the center stripe with two timely aces, Mladenovic fought off a pair of break points bolting an inside-out forehand winner to navigate a tricky 10-and-a-half minute game holding for 3-2.
Cracking an inside-out forehand return, Siegemund converted her fourth break point breaking for 5-4.
Serving for the match, Siegemund was rattled—and the crowd riled—when chair umpire Alves hit her with a point penalty time violation. Mladenovic broke back when the German netted a forehand prompting more whistles from fans angered by the call.
Attacking from the first point of the tie break, Mladenovic spun a backhand winner down the line to extend her lead to 4-1 in the breaker. A slick backhand drop volley followed by a drop shot and forehand pass down the line helped Siegemund level at 4-all.
When Mladenovic crunched a forehand winner she was two points from her second title of the year. Siegemund answered with a bold backhand down the line then challenged the Frenchwoman’s forehand drawing a wide return off a second serve for championship point.
The woman who had tormented opponents all week with her daring drop shot, read Mladenovic’s dropper and nudged one final winner ending a dramatic duel.