News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic suffered no letdown after her three hour thriller against Heather Watson, dispatching Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the final four at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

“I’m very happy,” the French star said after the match. “I had great sensations when I woke up this morning; I was very satisfied with my effort last night because the work is paying off for me to win a three and a half hour battle and wake up pretty fine. My physio did a good job as well.

“We finished very late, but the advantage of playing here in Acapulco is getting to have most of the next day to work and rest. I came out very strong and didn’t even warm-up today – just fitness after three and a half hours of tennis.”

Mladenovic recovered well from playing the second longest match of the season, hitting 21 winners to just 13 unforced errors in the 82 minute match.

“It was similar conditions today, and I think I played really good. I fixed the big problem I had on my serve yesterday, when I hit 20 double faults! Only five today! I think overall it was a great match; I had to be very consistent but also aggressive because Kirsten has a lot of variety, and it’s not easy to control her slices here.

“The ball is flying here, but I think I did a good job playing aggressive but also being patient with her tricky game. I’m just very happy to come back after yesterday’s tough win.”

The St. Petersburg champion earned big leads to start each set, winning the first three games of the match and racing out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the second set, but Flipkens – a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist – gave Mladenovic all she could as the match headed to a dramatic conclusion.

“The first was very close, and I continued on the same path. She might have wanted to change her game at the start of the second, so she tried going for more and ended up giving me a few more unforced errors that made the difference.

“It gave me a big lead, but she kept fighting until the end, and came up with some incredible shots at the end. I had to really dig deep there, especially at 4-2 on my serve. I was in danger most of the game, but I survived and held, which was very important because had I lost serve, it would have been a different match.

“The last game wasn’t easy to close out either; I could feel like she was playing freely at that point and she was going for her shots. It’s obviously a great feeling to be in the semifinals here, especially after such an epic match. It feels like I’ve been in the office all day long.”

Up next for Mladenovic is Christina McHale, a 2014 finalist in Acapulco who ousted reigning Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig in straight sets in the first quarterfinal. The pair last played at this very tournament, with McHale winning en route to the final.

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