Mladenovic ends five-year wait for singles silverware
Kristina Mladenovic ended a five-year wait for a professional singles title with victory on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W60 Caserta.
The 29-year-old Frenchwoman defeated Italian local Camilla Rosatello 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) at the Italian clay court tournament for her first singles triumph at any level since she won her lone Tour-level title at St. Petersburg in 2017.
Mladenovic – a two-time Grand Slam singles quarter-finalist - has now won seven professional singles titles, including five on the ITF World Tennis Tour and another at WTA 125k Series level.
“That was definitely a tough turnaround after Paris but feeling happy about this win,” the former world No. 10 posted on Instagram.
Vient de publier une photo à ROLAND-GARROS https://t.co/DMncJWyYaE
— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) June 7, 2022
At Roland Garros, Mladenovic formed a wild card pairing with compatriot Caroline Garcia and went on to win the title – her sixth Grand Slam women’s doubles crown in total and fourth at Roland Garros.
It was also her second major title this year, following her mixed doubles victory alongside Ivan Dodig at the Australian Open.
But while silverware has continued to flow in doubles (she has won 34 women’s doubles titles in total and at least one Grand Slam in five of the last seven years), Mladenovic has struggled in the individual game in recent years.
She dropped as low as No. 119 in the rankings last week – her lowest spot since September 2012 - and had lost 11 of the 13 matches she had played this year prior to arriving in Caserta.
Elsewhere, Mina Hodzic and Laura Siegemund achieved a double triumph for Germany at the other two W60 events taking place over the weekend.
Hodzic, 20, defeated Lucie Nguyen Tan 6-3 6-3 to win her second ITF title and first above W15 level at W60 Biarritz, while Siegemund defeated Victoria Kuzmova 6-2 6-2 to win W60 Poertschach – her biggest title since she won the WTA Stuttgart crown in 2017.
Catch up on all the weekend’s results from Women’s events on the ITF World Tennis Tour