Mladenovic to final thanks to revanche victory on Bencic
11/06/16, 20:19
Kristina Mladenovic (WTA-32) and CoCo Vandeweghe (WTA-43) will compete in the women’s singles final in Rosmalen. The latter earned her place in the final earlier today while the third seed defeated top seed and good friend Belinda Bencic 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Last year Bencic beat Mladenovic in the quarter-final.
The 23-year-old Mladenovic had her back against the wall in the first set. At 1-1 she faced breakpoint after an unsuccessful drop shot, and at 4-2 she again lost her serve with a double fault.
At 2-2 in the second set the world number eight seemed to gain momentum when she reached 0-40 on Mladenovic’s serve. However, her opponent came up with two strong services and a rock hard forehand winner to win the game. At 4-3 In front the French player broke Bencic’s service with two short forehand cross court passes. With a service/forehand combination she won the game and later the set.
Deciding set
The exciting third set progressed evenly for quite a while until 4-4. Mladenovic started her game with two lucky net balls and later registered the first break of the set.
The 19-year-old Bencic had the chance to break back after Mladenovic’s unsuccessful drop shot, but the latter wiped out the break chance with a forehand winner.
Two points later the match was concluded when Bencic missed a forehand. Mladenovic hit 15 aces in the match which lasted over two hours.
Second final
Mladenovic will play in the second final of her career. She saw the top prize evaporate in Strassbourg last year. To win the title in Rosmalen, she will have to beat sixth seed Vandeweghe.
In three previous meetings Mladenovic has never beaten Vandeweghe. Their first meeting was also in Rosmalen. In 2014 the American won in three sets to go on to win the title in the Autotron. Earlier this year Vandeweghe was too strong in three sets in Dubai.
Previous to Roland Garros, Mladenovic reached the semi-final in Strassbourg. In Paris she was stopped by Serena Williams in the third round. She won the women’s doubles with Caroline Garcia at Roland Garros.