Kristena Mladenovic is better known for her prolific exploits on the doubles court, but the Frenchwoman scored a massive tournament shock, as she stormed to the St Petersburg title, dropping just one set en route to clinch her first WTA title. She defeated Yulia Putintseva in straight sets in the final 62 67 64.
Mladenovic had led 62 52, but was forced to a third set. She again surrendered a br
The win for Mladenovic is even more surprising given the depth of talent in the tournament, and her lack of form in 2017 coming into this event. Mladenovic had lost in the opening round of her first two events this year, including at the Australian Open, and was unseeded at this event. Her 63 61 thrashing of Australian Open runner-up Venus Williams set the tone for the week in the second round, as she followed that up with a 61 64 defeat of Roberta Vinci.
Mladenovic had looked destined to seal the match in straight sets when she went up five-two in the decider. Cue a storming comeback from Putintseva though, as the Kazakh recovered to win four games in a row and a chance to serve for the set. She failed though, as Mladenovic broke back to deuce to force a tiebreak.
Putintseva put the disappointment of failing to serve the set out behind her, as she took the resulting tiebreak seven-three.
It was Mldenovic who took the decider though, as she shrugged off the disappointment of losing the second set from such a commanding position. She again went up five-two, though this time with the double break. Putintseva saved one match point with a stunning winner off of a Mladenovic smash, and a second with a backhand return winner. She repeated the trick with a second backhand return winner on the third match point, and even earned a break point, only to see an ace save. A forehand error saw Mladenovic surrender the serve, though she still lead by a break.
Putintseva managed a tough deuce hold, and saved another match point with a superb forehand return winner, but Mladenovic finally sealed the win with a forehand winner.
“I don’t remember, you know it was a very difficult and intense weeks, very close matches, you know you guys such a big fire obviously the nerves I couldn’t find my rhythm in the second set, she pulled me back in the second set, I’m just so happy to clinch my first WTA title here in St Petersburg.”
