Mladenovic reaches the Indian Wells semi

By
Mark Hall
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Kristina Mladenovic is finally making a move!

Now ranked world no.26, the Frenchwoman has an enormous potential with an outstanding fitness, a great personality, and lots of classy shots. After winning her maiden tournament this year in St. Petersburg, Kristina has just reached a very prestigious semi-final in Indian Wells after she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in 3 sets.

The Frenchwoman had a horrible start against the Dane to trail on a 1-5 scoreline in the first set before losing 3-6. Things got immensely complicated for Mladenovic in the second set when she dropped her serve in the very first game (0-1), but then she broke back immediately. After a series of breaks, Kristina managed to win the set at the breaker.   The Frenchwoman stepped up big time in the third set after she conquered 5 consecutive games to win the match after she was 1-2 down. The final score was 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2.



 

Kristina about her feelings

Before this match, Mladenovic had a 0-3 win-loss record against the Dane, and she was rather upset last year when she succumbed to Caroline in the Hong Kong final. Kristina commented

“I wanted to take my revenge, of course. It was not easy. Again, it was a tough battle and tough conditions. We played, yeah, two hours and a half. I didn’t start the match well at all.

I thought, when you lost three times against a player, it means that something is wrong and that you don’t really like her game.

I felt like I needed adjustments. It’s the first time for me playing in that huge stadium. I just stayed very positive and composed, because I was out there battling with myself first because I wanted kind of too much.

I was just fighting mentally to be close with her at the scoreboard, and eventually, I got my chances. And I think I played really well the tie-break.”


Kristina will play the semi-final against either Elina Vesnina or Venus Williams. After this win, Kristina will break in the top20.

SHE IS GETTING THERE