Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina Mladenovic is a French professional tennis player who has competed on the WTA Tour since 2009.
| Date of Birth: | 14 May 1993 |
| Birthplace: | Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France |
| Residence: | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Height: | 6'0" (184 cm) |
| Weight: | 132 lbs (60 kg) |
| Plays: | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Turned Pro: | 2009 |
Kristina Mladenovic was born in Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France on May 14, 1993. Her parents, Dragan and Dzenita, were professional volleyball players. They moved to France in 1992 before Mladenovic was born. Mladenovic started playing tennis at age eight and she displayed great ability from a young age.
She is a former junior number one and won her first title at the European Under-14 singles competition. The French player started featuring at WTA-level competitions in 2009, as she made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. She also won her first-ever WTA main draw match at the Strasbourg Open.
Between 2010 and 2011, Mladenovic struggled to play consistently at WTA level. However, she won two ITF events in 2011 in Sutton and Stockholm. Mladenovic broke onto the WTA Tour in 2012 and had moderate success. She reached the semi-finals at the Bell Classic and progressed to round three at the US Open.
As a result, the French player broke into the Top 100 in September 2012. In 2013, Mladenovic was consistent and made the second round at the Australian Open. By March, she had broken into the WTA’s Top 50. She also won Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles in 2013 and 2014 at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Both titles were won by Canadian Daniel Nestor.
A dip in singles form followed success in mixed doubles. However, Mladenovic returned to form in 2015 and made her first-ever WTA singles final at the Internationaux de Strasbourg but she lost against Samantha Stosur. She then reached the quarter-finals at the US Open and broke into the WTA Top 30 for the first time.
In 2016, Mladenovic won her first women’s doubles Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros. She partnered compatriot Caroline Garcia en route to victory. In addition, the French player made her second WTA final at the Libema Open but lost to Coco Vandeweghe.
Mladenovic and Garcia then reached another Grand Slam final at the US Open in 2016 and lost in the final. Late in 2016, Mladenovic progressed to a third career final at the Hong Kong Open. However, she couldn’t get past Caroline Wozniacki in the final two.
Mladenovic had a strong 2017 in singles and she won her first-ever WTA title in St Petersburg, defeating Yulia Putintseva in the final. The French player also progressed to the Roland Garros quarter-finals. A consistent season saw Mladenovic break into the Top 10 on October 23, 2017.
Mladenovic was unable to defend her St Petersburg title in 2018. Despite making the final for a second consecutive season, she lost against Petra Kvitova. In this period, she also won another doubles title, winning the 2018 Australian Open with Timea Babos. The 2018 Australian title spared an incredible run of form for Mladenovic and Babos.
Between 2018 and 2020 reached six Grand Slam finals in women’s doubles and won four. Victories also came at the Roland Garros (2019 and 2020) and the Australian Open again (2020). However, Mladenovic struggled to progress to the WTA event finals in the same period.
She had moderate success, reaching the semi-finals in Moscow in 2019 and quarter-finals at Lyon, Nottingham, Chicago, and Portoroz in 2021. More doubles honors came in 2022 when Mladenovic won the Australian Open mixed doubles event with Ivan Dodig.
She also reunited with Garcia to win the Roland Garros title in 2022. Since 2022, Mladenovic’s singles form declined and she failed to qualify in three of the four Grand Slam main draws in 2023. She received a wildcard entry to the French Open but lost in round one.
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