After being seeded at all of the first three Slams this year, Kristina Mladenovic finds herself back where she started, unseeded at the US Open. The last time she was unseeded though the Frenchwoman went on a great run making a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in her career. However, with less than decent results thus far this year, we take a look at whether she can once again emulate that success.
Notable results to date
Mladenovic made the third round in the first two slams of the year maintaining her record in the Slams. She even pushed world number one Serena Williams at the French Open but it wasn’t enough.
Prior to the French Open, she finally managed to string more than two wins in a tournament to reach the Strasbourg semifinals. Her notable results came on grass though where she made the final at the Ricoh Open beating Belinda Bencic in the semifinals. She then continued her fine grass form reaching the quarterfinals at the Premier event at Eastbourne.
The Frenchwoman enjoyed more success in the doubles, winning four titles with partner Carolina Garcia, all of them on clay. Together they also brought France to the Fed Cup finals.
Best hard court results leading up to Flushing Meadows
Mladenovic heads to the US Open with less than ideal results. Seeded fourth she only made it as far as the quarterfinals at the Citi Open losing out to good friend Yanina Wickmayer in three sets. She followed it up with early round losses in Montreal, Cincinnati and recently at New Haven.
Perhaps her best result came at the Olympics in the second round where she pushed Madison Keys in a more than three-hour battle but fell short in the end.
Best US Open result
The Frenchwoman had a fantastic US Open last year which propelled her to her career high ranking of 29. With Maria Sharapova withdrawing, she took advantage of the draw opening up and cruised to her first fourth round at a slam.
And in the late night at Arthur Ashe, with a cheeky tweener to boot, Mladenovic beat the higher ranked Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1 in a high octane match. She reached the quarterfinals for the first time but was unable to sustain that in the semifinals eventually going down in a tight three sets to Roberta Vinci. Nevertheless, it was a great two weeks for the Frenchwoman.
How Mladenovic's game translates to the surface
A player who uses a variety of shots and with her favorite being the drop shot, the hard courts are not that ideal given that it gives her opponents more time to reach that kind of shots. The Frenchwoman does like to run around and hit inside-out forehands which would help to push her opponents wide before she is able to come forward to apply the finish at the net. For a tall player, her serves haven’t been her strength lately, and she would need to find her rhythm again.