On The Up-Swing: Player Profile
Update: Mladenovic Wins 2013 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Crown with Daniel Nestor, see story below...
Kristina Mladenovic
Updated: July 08, 2013: Michael Duranceau, ITS Euro-Tennis
Kristina Mladenovic, 19 yrs old, born May 14, 1993 in Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, Nord in France. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 48th, which she reached last March 18 this year. Her father, Dragan Mladenovic , a former Yugoslavia Handball player, and her mother Dzenita is a former volleyball player. They moved to France in 1992 when Dragan was signed by Dunkirk. They are now naturalized French from the former Yugoslavia. She has lived in Porrentruy, Switzerland and is currently based in Paris.
Mladenovic started playing juniors in May 2006. In 2007 Mladenovic became the European Under 14 singles champion then posted her biggest junior achievement at the 2009 Junior French Open Girls' Singles, where she beat Daria Gavrilova of Russia 6–3, 6–2 in the final. Her highest junior ranking is No. 1, on 8 June 2009. She advanced to both the Girl's Singles and Doubles finals at the 2009 Junior Wimbledon, losing to Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, her partner for the doubles event.
Mladenovic won her first match on the WTA Tour at the Internationaux de Strasbourg , coming back from 5–2 in the final set to win the tiebreak against Stefanie Voegele. In 2011, Mladenovic won her first Senior title at a $25,000 tournament in Sutton defeating Mona Barthel then followed with a win in Stochkolm defeating Arantxa Rus in the final.
In 2012, Mladenovic claimed her first WTA Tour title in Montreal when she teamed yp with Klaudia Jans-Ignacik won the doubles title at the Rogers Cup. Mladenovic reached third round of the US Open after defeating Pavlyuchenkova. At the Bell Classic in Quebec, Mladenovic came through qualifying and reached her first WTA Semifinal. With Tatjana Malek, Mladenovic won her second WTA doubles title at the Bell Classic. Following her run to the semifinals Mladenovic entered the top 100 in the rankings for the first time. Mladenovic won the first ever WTA $125 event the Taipei WTA Ladies Open and took the doubles crown as well.
Mladenovic posts 5th career doubles crown
Playing in their first tournament together, Kristina Mladenovic and Lucie Safarova stormed through the Family Circle Cup with an impressive run capturing the doubles title without losing a set in the tournament last April 7, 2013.
The unseeded French-Czech pair posted upset wins over No.3 seeds Vania King and Lisa Raymond 7-6(5) 6-1 in the quarter-finals before continuing their streak to the finals where they ousted No.1 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Liezel Huber 63 76(6).
Mladenovic registered her second WTA doubles title of the season, fifth overall, while Safarova won her second consecutive Family Circle Cup with a different partner. Last year Safarova paired with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for her first career doubles crown. See wtatennis.com doubles draw
Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor Takes 2013 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Title
July 07 2013: Wimbledon, England - France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Canadian partner Daniel Nestor captured the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title on Sunday after beating No.1 seeds American veteran Lisa Raymond and Bruno Suarez of Brazil 5-7, 6-2, 8-6.
The French-Canadian pair, who was finalist at the French Open last month, saved two match points in the 2-hour match attended by newly crowned Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion Marion Bartoli. It was a diappointing loss for Raymond who was trying to win back-to-back titles after winning last year with Mike Bryan.
After the match, Nestor heaped praise on his 20-year old partner Mladenovic saying, "I'm fortunate to play with someone that can more than do her share. She's a great player. She's going to be one of the top singles players eventually. Right now I'm catching her while she's maybe not winning four or five matches in singles. She's winning two or three, so hopefully that will change for her. Right now, you know, she's focusing on doubles and mixed. I think that will change one day. I caught her at the right time."
The 8-time Men’s Doubles Grand Slam champion and two-time Wimbledon doubles winner Nestor, also won Mixed Doubles titles at the 2007 Australian Open with Russian Elena Likhovtseva and in 2011 in Melbourne with Katarina Srebotnik. The Wimbledon trophy was 40-year old’s No.81 career title.
Wimbledon: Interview Mladenovic and Nestor
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Singles Career record: 123–89
Career titles: 1 WTA (4 ITF)
Highest ranking No. 48 (18 March 2013)
Current ranking No. 50 (8 April 2013)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open: 2R (2013)
French Open: 1R (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Wimbledon: 1R (2012)
US Open: 3R (2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Career record: 91–45
Career titles 5 WTA (7 ITF)
Highest ranking No. 27 (8 April 2013)
Current ranking No. 27 (8 April 2013)
Turned pro: 2009, Plays right-handed
(Source: wtatennis; fft.fr; wikipedia)
Australian Open 2013: Kritina Mladenovic vs Sloane Stephens
Video courtesy of Australian Open
Video Interview in French by Jean Baptiste Baretta