Though she has been making headlines off court, Kristina Mladenovic has also been making headlines on court, following an impressive season which has seen her reach four finals and break into the top-15 of the rankings, after starting the season ranked 42nd.
Seeded 13th at the French Open, Mladenovic will be full of confidence heading into her home Grand Slam tournament, and will look to continue her good form so she can go far in what is a fairly open draw.
Early 2017 results
Mladenovic started her season well, winning three of her four matches at the Hopman Cup as France took the title, though she disappointed at the Australian Open as she fell in the first round to Ana Konjuh.
The Frenchwoman responded extremely well however, beating Yulia Putintseva in three sets to take her first WTA title in St. Petersburg. She backed that up with a win over Karolina Pliskova in Dubai, though ultimately fell in third round, before reaching the final in Acapulco where she fell to Lesia Tsurenko.
Another strong result came in Indian Wells, where Mladenovic beat the likes of Caroline Wozniacki to make the semifinals, though she then fell in the first round of Miami.
On clay in 2017
The Frenchwoman has had a strong build-up heading into Roland Garros, with two more final appearances on the dirt.
The first of these came at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she beat world number one Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the second round, and also beat the returning Maria Sharapova in three sets in the semifinals. Following that, she lost an extremely tight final to Laura Siegemund in a third set tiebreak.
Mladenovic was finalist again two weeks later at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Frenchwoman beat clay court specialists Sorana Cirstea and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively, before falling to Simona Halep in another tight three-set final. She then lost to Julia Goerges in the opening round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Best French Open result
Mladenovic has never really excelled at the French Open, though has reached the third round in the past three years.
Perhaps her most significant win at Roland Garros was in the first round back in 2014, where she defeated Li Na, a former French Open champion and the Australian Open champion that year, in three sets. She then beat Alison Riske before falling to Andrea Petkovic.
Mladenovic took another scalp in 2015, beating sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard in the opening round, and then beat Danka Kovinic before falling to Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets. Last year, she beat former champion Francesca Schiavone and ex-doubles partner Timea Babos, both in straight sets, before falling to top seed Serena Williams in a tight straight sets match.
Based on her form this year, the Frenchwoman should make the second week in Paris for the first time, and with the draw so open, she’ll be looking to go far in front of her partisan home crowd.