Second seed Kristina Mladenovic outlasted Great Britain’s Heather Watson 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 7-5, to progress to the quarter-finals at the Mexican Open.
The world No.30 endured a roller coaster journey during a match that consisted of 15 breaks of serve and 38 double faults. Mladenovic was just two points away from sealing a straight set win, but was unable to tame a determined Watson in the second set as both players displayed their best and worst tennis.
“These kind of matches, I’m not really satisfied with the way I played – I’m not sure it was really the best quality tennis – but I’m actually very satisfied with the fighting,” Mladenovic told wtatennis.com.
“We both of us, we never gave up. It was up and down; I was down big time in the first set and I came back and won it. I also had match points in the end and she saved them, actually beautifully, and she came back.
“That was just grit. A mental battle. I’m just satisfied and proud to pull this one through.”
Mladenovic, who will play Kirsten Flipkens in the last eight, managed to grab the victory despite producing only 22 winners compared to Watson’s tally of 59. Furthermore the Frenchwoman won 55% of her service points and fired six aces.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni also experienced a fight in her second round match against America’s Shelby Rogers. The top seed dropped her serve five times in the match, but managed to battle back with the help of 31 winners to seal the win 6-4, 6-4. The 34-year-old will now play in her first non-grand slam quarter-final since May.
Lucic-Baroni’s next test will be unseeded French player Pauline Parmentier, who stunned eighth seed Andrea Petkovic 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Olympic champion Monica Puig held her nerve to see off tour veteran Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-4, after an hour and 40 minutes of play. The fourth seed broke her Slovakian rival four times in the match, including three consecutive service games at the start of the second set.
“Today I felt a lot better on court than I did yesterday,” Puig said after the match. “I’ve definitely seen an improvement in my game during the past few days.
“And that’s really my goal, to improve every match and not feel pressure, and just go out on court and play the best I can.”
Puig will next play Christina McHale, who dismissed qualifier Taylor Townsend in straight sets. The upcoming clash will be the first time that two players have faced each other since an ITF $75,000 tournament seven years ago.
.@AbiertoTelcel Quarterfinals set!
Lucic-Baroni vs Parmentier
Ostapenko vs Tsurenko
McHale vs Puig
Flipkens vs Mladenovic— WTA (@WTA) 2 March 2017
