Tennis News

STRASBOURG, France – No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic reached her first semifinal of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier and fellow doubles star Alla Kudryavtseva at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

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Mladenovic took to court 24 hours after clinching an epic third set tie-break over Alison Riske, and exchanged four straight service breaks to start against Kudryavtseva, a former World No.56 who was playing her first WTA quarterfinal in nearly 18 months.

“It was a quick match and it’s the ideal scenario before a semifinal, to be able to get some rest and not walk out on the court tomorrow tired,” Mladenovic told wtatennis.com after the match.

“I changed up my shots a lot today which i think was the key.”

Settling quicker, the French youngster survived losing serve in the penultimate games of each set to ease past the hard-hitting veteran, who is poised to move up over 30 spots following a run through qualifying that saw her take out No.9 seed Alizé Cornet in the first round.

Mladenovic became the third from her country to advance into the Strasbourg semifinals on Thursday, after Caroline Garcia and Virginie Razzano both reached the final four; the last time three French women made it this far at a WTA tournament was in 2006, when Tatiana Golovin, Mary Pierce and Amélie Mauresmo all contested for the Paris Indoor title – ultimately won by Mauresmo.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni ended the hopes of a first French shutout for the first time since the 1999 Generali Ladies Linz (Mauresmo, Pierce, Sarah Pitkowski, Sandrine Testud), defeating Pauline Parmentier, 6-0, 6-1, to complete the semifinal line-up.

“You always want people from your county to do well and it’s great for French Tennis in general, and nice for the fans here – this is our home,” Mladenovic said of the high level of French success in Strasbourg.

Lucic-Baroni is not only in her first WTA semifinal of the season, but this is the farthest she has been in Strasbourg since 1997 when, within weeks of turning pro at 15 years old, she reached the final – falling to former No.1 and WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Tournament Ambassador Stefanie Graf.

“It was pretty perfect,” the veteran said after the match. “You can’t ask for much more. I’ve been playing really well. And she’s a great player. It’s just I played really well today and didn’t let her in.”

Forced into qualifying after failing to enter the tournament in time ended up being an auspicious opportunity to the Croat to play her way into form, upsetting No.8 seed Timea Babos earlier in the week.

“I missed the deadline by one day – one day!” She laughed. “So I entered qualies. I got two extra matches and it was a really good decision, clearly.

“I’ve been here a few times, but many years ago. It a beautiful tournament, a beautiful city and right before Roland Garros, so it’s good for confidence.”

A former World No.16, Razzano continues to play her best tennis in Strasbourg, reaching her second straight semifinal at the WTA International, again beating Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

“It’s great to be in the semifinal – my first for a long time!” the veteran exclaimed after the match. “It was a quick turn around from last night’s win. Right now I’m playing well.

“Today against Vesnina it wasn’t easy despite the scores in the first and third set. I’ve found my rhythm and it’s been building from my wins against Shvedova, Puig and playing in qualies.

“I’m working hard. Today it’s paid off.”

Garcia was the second Frenchwoman to advance with Samantha Stosur was forced to withdraw from the event citing a left wrist injury.

 “I have had some pain in my left wrist for the last few days,” the Aussie said. “I tried to practice yesterday and felt a lot of discomfort and unfortunately I can’t take to the court today.

“It’s difficult as I’ve rarely had to withdraw from a match in my career.

“I’ve played some good tennis here this week and I’m disappointed I won’t be able to properly defend my title here in Strasbourg .”

Petra Kvitova survives: When Sunday’s schedule first came out, my eyes immediately zoomed in on the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier: Petra Kvitova vs. Danka Kovinic. The first thought that came to mind was whether it could possibly be that the two-time Wimbledon champion might bow out of the French Open before the tournament actually felt like it was underway. The threat seemed real given Kvitova’s struggles with an abdominal injury before the tournament and the very heavy conditions that would be in play on Sunday.

Kvitova looked to put those concerns to bed after building a quick 6-2, 3-0 lead over Kovinic, who had a solid clay season. The Montenegrin reached the final of the Instanbul Cup a few weeks before and can be a dangerous player when her game is clicking. It clicked in just in time.

The big-hitting Czech wobbled in the second set and Kovinic pounced, playing some fantastic counter-punching tennis to take the match into a third set. For much of the final frame she looked like the better player, as she combatted Kvitova’s heavy strokes with some magical defense of her own.

Kovinic served for the match at 5-4 only to get broken on a tremendous game from the Czech, who reeled off the final three games to win. The win underlined one oft-overlooked aspect of Kvitova’s game: She’s a fighter. Her game may desert her at times but she’s there until the end. She’ll play Hsieh Su-wei in the second round.

Let's just say I'm glad that one is behind me 🙂 and sorry for your blood pressure ? #petrainparis pic.twitter.com/ndkSGR7ckE

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) May 22, 2016

Rain cancels eight matches, suspends three: The rain came later than expected in Paris, leading to a three-hour rain delay and early end to the day after a short resumption.

Just hit double digits for the amount of people in the players lounge who've mentioned the British weather to me. #notfunny #RG16

— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) May 22, 2016

Five matches were able to finish before the rain came. In addition to Kvitova, No.11 seed Lucie Safarova, No.24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic, and Hsieh Su-Wei advanced to the second round.

The following matches were in progress when play was called:

Svetlana Kuznetsova leads Yaroslava Schvedova 4-6, 6-1, 3-1.
Nicole Gibbs leads Heather Watson 7-5, 2-6, 2-1.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich leads Cagla Buyukakcay 7-5, 6-7(2), 2-1.

Cancelled matches, which included Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep’s openers, as well as in-progress matches will take place on Monday.

Simo's match has been cancelled for today. See you tomorrow @rolandgarros ???? pic.twitter.com/whCMsXFaJB

— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) May 22, 2016

#RG16 almost started for me today.Will try again tomorrow?? @rolandgarros #rainyday

— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) May 22, 2016

Golubic earns her first win at a Slam: The 23-year-old from Zurich made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in January and earned her first main draw win at a major on Sunday, beating Alison Riske 6-1, 1-6 6-2. She’ll play Safarova in the round. Ranked No.130, Golubic earned wins over Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova in the Fed Cup semifinals last month. That’s a nice run of form.

Cagla Buyukackay looks to make more history: By qualifying for the main draw, the Istanbul Cup champion became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to play in the singles main draw at a Slam. In fact, there are two Turkish women in Paris, as she was later joined by 2014 US Open junior champion Ipek Soylu hours later.

With her match against Sasnovich suspended, Buyukackay will continue her quest to become the first Turkish woman to win a main draw match at a Slam on Monday.

Serena Williams and Venus Williams unseeded and looming: The doubles draw is out and all eyes were on where Serena and Venus would land. They’ve been drawn into the section of the draw led by No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova and will open against the fiery young pairing of Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva.

Radwanska, Muguruza, and Halep headline Day 2: Serena Williams was originally scheduled to play on Monday but the rain-delays on Sunday meant a reshuffling of the schedule. Radwanska starts her tournament against Bojana Jovanovski on Court Philippe Chatrier, Muguruza plays Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and Halep takes on Nao Hibino on Court 2.

Roland Garros Preview: Listen to the new episode of the WTA Insider Podcast for a full breakdown of what to expect over the fortnight in Paris and hear from the top players themselves as they discuss their expectations and preparations for the second major of the season.