France’s Kristina Mladenovic will play Simona Halep in the Madrid Open final on Saturday after edging her way past Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 7-6(4).
The 23-year-old proved stronger in the clutch moments of the match against her greater experience opponent. Mladenovic has now recorded her tenth win over a top-10 player in her career and will play in her first WTA premier final.
“I think this is a big win for me because Svetlana is such a big, experienced player.” Said Mladenovic. “She has a perfect game to play, especially in the indoor Conditions.”
“I was struggling at the beginning. I like to put a lot of power sometimes. My tactics was to be aggressive and not let her control with her forehand and making me move.”
The 14th seed was tested throughout the encounter in what was a tense meeting at the Caja Magica. A somewhat uncertain Kuznetsova struggled to generate any rhythm in her game, allowing Mladenovic to capitalize. Trading breaks at the start of the match, the French player seized her opportunity in the ninth game. A forehand cross-court winner combined with a Kuznetsova error rewarded her the break to serve the set out. The mission was achieved in the following game with the help of a serve out wide.
Continuing to apply the pressure, Mladenovic had five chances to break during set No.2, but was denied by the former US Open champion. With little to distinguish between the two players, who play doubles together, a tiebreak decided the outcome. Emulating the opening set, it was Kuznetsova’s errors that resulted in her downfall. A disastrous smash at the net moved Mladenovic to the brink of victory in the tiebreaker. The win was then sealed with the help of a risky second serve send out wide by the world No.17.
Kristina Mladenovic makes her 4th final of 2017 and biggest of her career @MutuaMadridOpen. https://t.co/ENkVyhu1gh pic.twitter.com/ENVSrcZL9j
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 12 May 2017
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Madrid will be Mladenovic’s fourth final on the tour this season. She has already triumphed at St. Petersburg as well as reach finals in Acapulco and Stuttgart. The surge means that she is within touching distance of topping the WTA Porsche race to Singapore. She will get the lead if she defeats Halep in Sunday’s final
Shortly after her loss, Kuznetsova praised her current doubles partner. In the match both players won the same amount of points, but it was the mentality of the French player that was pivotal.
“She played smarter than I did. My balls were a little bit too short.” Said Kuznetsova
“For me she’s really confident at the moment. You can see that she has won many matches this year. You can feel it on the court.”
Halep awaits
Facing Halep, Mladenovic currently has a 3-1 head-to-head lead. Earlier this year she dismissed the Romanian in straight sets at Indian Wells, but she was on the comeback from injury. The third seed is bidding to become only the second player in history to win back-to-back titles in the women’s draw after Serena Williams.
“I’m expecting a tough match. Even though I’m leading in our head-to-head, we never played on clay, I think. That’s going to be a brand-new challenge for me, especially that she’s more used to being in a final of such a big events than me, especially here in Madrid.” Mladenovic explained.
Regardless of the outcome in Madrid, Mladenovic is set to become the first Frenchwoman to crack the top-15 on the WTA Tour since Marion Bartoli in December, 2013. She will rise to 14th in the world, 13th if she wins the title.
