By Chris Oddo | Sunday June 4, 2017
Kristina Mladenovic, buoyed by fervent support of the French faithful, battled past defending champion Garbine Muguruza in three sets on Sunday in Paris.
Photo Source: Adam Pretty/Getty
Riding a wave of support (thunderous) and overcoming a bevy of double-faults (16), France’s Kristina Mladenovic surged into the Roland Garros quarterfinals with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday.
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A reigning Roland Garros doubles champion, Mladenovic is now making a play for the singles title by producing her best clay-court season of her career. The 24-year-old improved to 15-3 on the clay in 2017 and earned her sixth lifetime Top 5 win despite delivering well over a baker’s dozen of double-faults over the course of the one hour and 59-minute contest.
The players flip-flopped in the first two sets, with a self-assured Mladenovic dominating the tentative Spaniard early, but Muguruza impressively found her game to hit back in the middle set behind 16 winners and three breaks of serve.
In the decider it was Muguruza who failed to capitalize on Mladenovic’s serving woes in the third set, and that was ultimately the difference that didn’t quite seem over until the last ball was struck. The Frenchwoman threw in seven double faults in set three (and fourteen in the final two sets) but was able to save each of the three break points she faced and limited Muguruza to only three winners in the stanza.
With the boisterous crowd willing her every step of the way, Mladenovic was the more opportunistic player in the final set. She converted both her break points and saved the three critical break points early that left Muguruza a bit discouraged.
The Spaniard clearly did not enjoy the pro-Mladenovic vocal crowd, who were quick to chide her when she ambled to the net to have a glance at a ball mark when one of her backhands sailed just wide of the tramline late in the match.
She returned to her baseline, miffed, but never channeled that frustration into her trademark power strokes.
Muguruza would remain within a break until the final game but was broken at 15 on serve in the final game, finishing with a forehand unforced error, her 33rd of the match.She didn't seem to know it at the time, but she likely learned a valuable lesson in this defeat: All bets and allegiances are off, no matter your stature, when you play a rising French talent at Roland Garros.
With the news of Timea Bacsinszky’s three-set victory over Venus Williams shortly after Mladenovic’s win, the realization has hit that there will be a maiden Grand Slam winner on the women’s side.
It could most certainly be Mladenovic, who has never been beyond the quarters at a major before but appears to be playing on a magic carpet of partisan support while blossoming as a pro at the same time. But it could also be the crafty, cerebral Bacsinszky, who she’ll face in the quarterfinals.
They aren’t the only two with more than a puncher’s chance.
Welcome to women’s tennis without Serena Williams. For the remainder of the season, it ought to be interesting.