Tennis News

PARIS, France – No.26 seed Kristina Mladenovic has saved some of her best tennis for her home major tournament, and this year’s Roland Garros appears to be no different; the French No.1 eased past former doubles partner Timea Babos, 6-4, 6-3 to book a third round clash with 21-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

Mladenovic and Babos spent the last few years as one of the tour’s top doubles teams, reaching the 2014 Wimbledon final and qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but the former began 2016 with countrywoman Caroline Garcia in preparation for the Rio Olympics, while the latter has paired with fellow big hitter Yaroslava Shvedova.

“It was extremely difficult to prepare this match,” she said in her post match press conference. “And she is a girl I know by heart. She’s one of my best friends. We have known each other since we were really kids.

“When you know your opponent by heart usually this is not good, because there’s pressure, there’s tension. You anticipate her shots, you try and change your game to surprise her.

“But it’s also the attitude, the general atmosphere. You don’t exactly know what to expect and what to do.”

French hopeful Mladenovic sets up 3R meeting with defending champion Serena w/straight sets win over Babos. #RG16 pic.twitter.com/0doXa0xw6Z

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 26, 2016

Mladenovic and Garcia have come into the doubles event as favorites to end Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s bid at the Santina Slam, while Babos is in the midst of a career-best season, upsetting Venus Williams in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia after starting the clay court season with a run to the semifinals in Rabat.

The match appeared straightforward from the start for Mladenovic, who raced out to a quick 3-0 lead, but lost the next four games despite holding points for 4-1. That proved to be the final twist in Court Philippe Chatrier’s last match of the day, as the 23-year-old won the last three games on the bounce to clinch the opening set, and just one service break decided the second for her to win the match in 79 minutes.

“I tried to work a lot on statistics with my coach. This is what we did. We looked at her past seven or eight matches on clay in the recent weeks, or, for instance — well, we looked at her stats. That’s to help me in what I was going to do.

“But look at her stats, today she did totally the contrary of what you have in the data.

“This is the beauty of our sport. It’s also why this match was difficult. I was ready.”

In what could be a rivalry for the future, the two exchanged powerful groundstrokes from the back of the court, with Mladenovic hitting 22 winners to Babos’ 13, but it was the 22 erros from the big-serving Hungarian that proved disastrous; Mladenovic managed to reign in her error count to 18.

Serena Williams stands between the Frenchwoman and the second week of Roland Garros; the two have never met before, but the three-time champion will could well face stiff opposition from the inspired youngster and the enthusiatic French crowd.

“The first word I would use is ‘at last,’ because, well, what can I say? It’s going to be difficult. Maybe I wanted to have a better draw, but then also I think it’s very positive.

“I have to take it very positively. This is an experience, something to do, it’s a dream. I grew up watching Serena play. Then I’m going to play against her.

“So she is the best, I think, in my sport. She’s a legend. I’m extremely happy, because this is a challenge.

“She is dominating. She’s been dominating every single match in the recent years. And it’s going to be very complicated. And as we speak, frankly, I’m very happy so far. I enjoy what I have done. I know how difficult it was for me at the beginning of the tournament, so what I will do is – of course I will debrief my matches. I will enjoy these two wins, and then I will try and get ready as best I can for this match against Serena.”

Earlier in the day, Virginie Razzano wasn’t able to match Mladenovic and Alizé Cornet’s wins against No.29 seed Daria Kasatkina, falling, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, but Pauline Parmentier backed up her run to the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Irina Falconi. No.15 seed and Rome finalist Madison Keys continued her clay court renaissance, defeating Mariana Duque-Mariño, 6-3, 6-2 to book a third round encounter with either Julia Goerges or Monica Puig.

Karin Knapp followed up her upset win over No.5 seed Victoria Azarenka by beating Anastasija Sevastova, 6-3, 6-4, and will play Yulia Putintseva, who pulled off an upset of her own over No.28 seed and 2014 semifinalist Andrea Petkovic, 6-2, 6-2.

Dominika Cibulkova and Carla Suárez Navarro booked the most high-profile clash as the Mutua Madrid Open runner-up recovered from a second set hiccup to shut out Ana Konjuh, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, while Suárez Navarro was emphatic in her 6-1, 6-3 victory over Wang Qiang. 

La joie de @kikimladenovic après sa victoire contre timea babos ! elle est au 3ème tour ?? #RG16 https://t.co/xvYycG6O2G

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 26, 2016

SYDNEY, Australia – With the Australian Open just around the corner, six of the WTA’s Top 10 players are heading to the Apia International Sydney to fine-tune their preparations for the year’s first major.

The Sydney draw is out and Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova and Karolina Pliskova are all in action at the Premier-level event – here’s a rundown of what they’re up against this week.

Click here for the complete Sydney singles and doubles draws.

POSSIBLE QUARTERFINALS

EARLY MATCHES TO WATCH

Sloane Stephens vs [4] Karolina Pliskova: Stephens is back in action for the first time since August after a left foot injury ended her season after the Olympic tennis event. But it won’t be an easy welcome back to the WTA as she’s drawn Brisbane champion Pliskova in the first round. Stephens leads their head-to-head record 2-0, but the pair haven’t played since late 2015.

[7] Elina Svitolina vs Monica Puig: Svitolina and Puig are set to meet for the second time in as many weeks, and this time it’s at a tournament where the Puerto Rican reached the final last year and is defending valuable points. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 2-1 after last week’s win in Brisbane.

As the top two seeds, Kerber and Radwanska received a bye into the second round. Kerber awaits the winner between Daria Kasatkina and Timea Babos, while Radwanska will face either Roberta Vinci or a qualifier in her first match.

KERBER & RADWANSKA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL:

Should World No.1 Kerber make it past her tricky second-round battle, she could face British No1 Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals. Precedent would be on her side, though, as Kerber’s won both of their previous two encounters in straight sets – including their semifinal clash at the 2016 Australian Open.

It doesn’t get any easier from there, with WTA Finals champ Dominika Cibulkova and defending Sydney champion Svetlana Kuznetsova potentially looming in the semifinals.

For 2013 champion Radwanska, it’s a more straight-forward road to the final but it’s littered with dangerous floaters.

A battle against longtime nemesis Caroline Wozniacki could await in the quarterfinals – though she trails their head-to-head 6-9, Radwanska’s come out on top in their last two matches in Wuhan and Beijing. After that, she could get the big hitting Pliskova in the semifinals.