The last twelve months have been difficult for Kristina Mladenovic – but she still doesn’t have a coach at the French Open.
In 2017 Kristina Mladenovic rocked the Court Suzanne Lenglen: The Frenchwoman bid farewell to defending champion Garbine Muguruza in Roland Garros, the second largest stadium, so inhospitably that the Spaniard struggled with her emotions at the press conference.
At that time, however, Mladenovic was at the height of her art, had won her first title on the WTA Tour in St. Petersburg a few months earlier and only narrowly lost to Laura Siegemund in the final in Stuttgart. St. Petersburg were worth a visit again this year, even though Mladenovic lost the final against Petra Kvitova.
Only a few French fans now expect Mladenovic to become the first local winner since Mary Pierce in 2000 before the French Open, which starts next Sunday. Hopes are more likely to be pinned on Caroline Garcia, who had maintained a successful double partnership with Mladenovic until the end of 2016.
The print on the ladies is a little less – the last male winner dates from 1983, Yannick Noah war´s For a successor in 2018, all those involved in the tennis scene probably lack imagination.
By the way, Kristian Mladenovic has contact with Yannick Noah every now and then: after all, he is not only in charge of the Davis Cup team, but also of the Fed Cup team. And it is precisely there that Mladenovic regularly shows attractive performances. Maybe because Noah knows how to convince in coaching?
“I can’t imagine a coach who hasn’t had a career as a player,” Mladenovic explained in an interview with Roland Magazine. “What else could he bring? If we are honest, the level at which we play is not about technical details. “I’d need a good tactician with a lot of experience today.”
The 25-year-old girlfriend of Dominic Thiem has not yet found. In Paris, too, she will try her luck without a coach. Which does not mean that Mladenovic is resistant to advice: she gets tips from Janko Tipsarevic, for example. But he still has dreams of his own in active professional tennis.