By Chris Oddo | Friday May 12, 2017
Kristina Mladenovic eased past Svetlana Kuznetsova to claim a spot in the Mutua Madrid final alongside Simona Halep.
Photo Source: Christopher Levy
Kristina Mladenovic reached her fourth final of 2017 and the biggest one of her career with a poised performance against Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday in Madrid.
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The Frenchwoman improved to 27-8 on the season and 12-2 against the Top 35 with a 6-4, 7-6(4) takedown of her doubles partner. The match was tight over the course of two sets and one hour and 43 minutes, but the 23-year-old World No.17 never blinked.
After taking the opener, Mladenovic did not face a break point in the second set. Despite failing to break through on any of her five break opportunities (Kuznetsova saved two break points to hold for 2-1 and another three to hold for 5-4), the Frenchwoman stood tall in the tiebreaker, converting her second match point to claim her fourth Top 10 win of the season.
Mladenovic improves to 11-1 this season on clay and reaches the first Premier Mandatory final of her career. She’ll face No.3-seeded Simona Halep for the fifth time in the final—Mladenovic owns a lifetime record of 3-1 against the Romanian, including a third-round victory at Indian Wells this March.
The pair have never met on clay.
Mladenovic will vault the competition and move to the top of the Road to Singapore leaderboard with a win on Saturday. She began the week at No.7.
She could rise to No.13 in the regular rankings with a title on Sunday and will rise to No.14 if she loses.