French Open: First German in Round Two: Petkovic defeats Mladenovic

Andrea Petkovic is the first German player to enter the second round of the French Open. The Darmstadt native, who crashed to 107th place in the world rankings, won 7-6 (10), 6-2 against Kristina Mladenovic from France, who was seeded 29th.

Petkovic turned her fourth match point after 1:42 hours on the court of Suzanne Lenglen, the second largest place of the course. In this stadium Mladenovic had kicked the then defending champion Garbine Muguruza out of the tournament a year ago, this time it was the Darmstadt native who caused a small sensation. The crucial point was surely the first set, which Petkovic won with 12:10 after a real battle of nerves.

Petkovic had already surprised at the Australian Open in January, but after her success against the two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) she was eliminated. In Paris, she will face either Johanna Larsson (Sweden) or Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) in round two.

Petkovic (30) celebrated his fifth victory in the fifth clash with Mladenovic. The former top 10 player, who reached the semi-finals in Paris in 2014, fended off four set points in the first round. The resistance of former junior (2009) and double winner (2016) Mladenovic was broken.