In the second match on Court 5, Kristina Mladenovic, off of a semifinal appearance in Birmingham two weeks ago and currently ranked 38th in the world, routined Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru, ranked 60th in the world, 6/2, 6/1. The Frenchwoman now faces Jelena Ostapenko, who steamrolled over Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round.
In the third match between the two, but the first outside ITF or qualifying level, Mladenovic prevailed without much trouble, defeating Dulgheru for the second time this year and claiming the edge on their head-to-head.
The 22-year-old Frenchwoman, who currently sits only two spots off her best ranking, brought into Wimbledon a momentum acquired after a quarterfinal run in Rosmalen and a semifinal showing in Birmingham, while her counterpart played only one event on grass, qualifying and losing the first round in Eastbourne. And Mladenovic made the best of it.
It took her only 67 minutes to dispatch Dulgheru. And despite racing to a 5/0 lead in the first set, on which Mladenovic faced only one break point in her first three service games, she failed to serve for the frame at 5/1, despite saving three break opportunities before finally losing her serve on a Dulgheru forehand winner. Back returning up 2/5, however, Mladenovic imposed her game once again, fending off any threat from the Romanian and breaking her from 30 to clinch the set.
In the second set, Mladenovic found even less trouble to overpower her opponent, dishing a breadstick in only 28 minutes to close out Dulgheru. The Romanian double faulted away her first service game, but was far from dusted. After the Frenchwoman held at love to go up 3/0, Dulgheru won her lone game of the set and was up 0-40 on Mladenovic’s serve in the fifth game, before the French rebounded to win the game and swing the momentum her way.
Dulgheru was then broken from 30 and did not offer much resistance when the former junior Grand Slam champion stepped up to serve it out. Mladenovic won the game from love, serving an ace to close out the Romanian.
This is Kristina Mladenovic’s first main draw Wimbledon win in singles as a pro. The 2009 junior runner-up won the mixed doubles title at the All England Club in 2013 partnering Daniel Nestor but lost last year’s doubles final to the Italian duo of Errani/Vinci, partnering with Timea Babos.
