By Chris Oddo | Friday March 3, 2017
Kristina Mladenovic continued her stretch of torrid tennis on Friday at the Abierto Mexicano by taking out American Christina McHale, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
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The Frenchwoman kept constant pressure on McHale, earning 16 break points while facing just five of her own.
Mladenovic avenged a 2014 loss at Acapulco and improved to 12-4 in a season that has seen hear already claim one title (St. Petersburg) in addition to notching wins over Karolina Pliskova and Venus Williams.
Mladenovic will face Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in Saturday’s final. Tsurenko passed through the semifinal round when Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired while trailing 5-0 in the first set due to injury.
Mladenovic and Tsurenko have met four times previously with Tsurenko winning three, but Mladenovic took their only tour level battle at their most recent meeting in Dubai last February.
Mladenovic is bidding for her second title from five career finals while Tsurenko is bidding for her third and has won both finals she has played (Istanbul, 2015, Guangzhou, 2016).