#WangYafan’s exceptional 2019 continues at the #MiamiOpen as she defeated former top-10 player #KristinaMladenovic in the first round of action. The Chinese won her maiden WTA title a couple of weeks ago in Acapulco, and although she was defeated in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open last week, she displayed a high level of tennis and claimed this big win over the Frenchwoman.
Mladenovic’s struggles this year continued as she amassed a disappointing 3-8 win-loss record this season. It was a tough opening round encounter for either player, considering that the winner will face sixth seed Elina Svitolina in the next round. Wang is also defending fourth round points here so a loss tomorrow would also see her leave the top-50 just weeks after entering it.
Playing with controlled aggression, Wang blasted 18 winners to 21 unforced errors and despite being the clear aggressor, the error-strewn Mladenovic saw her untimely unforced errors backfiring on her and ultimately proving costly. The Frenchwoman found 31 winners but the bulk of 39 errors will definitely still be haunting her after the match as she had a decent chance of triumphing today.
There were multiple rumours before the match that Mladenovic will be working with big-name coach Sascha Bajin, and it seemed as though their partnership was unofficially confirmed as Bajin was in her camp during the match although it was still Mladenovic’s mum who came out for the on-court coaching session. WTA correspondent David Kane, however, later confirmed on Twitter that Bajin was just in Miami as a “family friend” and has agreed to “help out this week”, but not in an official capacity.
Wang holds her nerves, seals the tight opening set
After five break points came and went, it was Wang who was sixth-time lucky as she produced a thunderous forehand winner to claim the opening break in just nine minutes. Yes, just a typical nine-minute game to start the match with! Looking solid off her serves and groundstrokes, the Chinese looked dialled in and consolidated the break for an early 2-0 lead.
Mladenovic escaped from another tight service game, but this time her first serves saved her as she sent down an unreturnable serve down-the-tee to get onto the scoreboard, gaining the confidence and rhythm she needed at the start of the encounter. With the help of two double-faults, some aggressive hitting from the former world number 10 saw her returning level after clinching two consecutive games.
She was unable to hold onto her momentum, though. Throwing in an unfortunate double-fault on break point, Mladenovic immediately handed back the advantage to her opponent. Wang then survived a physically-gruelling game which was extended to five deuces, but somehow she did not face a break point to hold for a 4-2 lead.
Mladenovic’s struggles were clearly reflected on the scoreboard as she found it difficult to keep the powerful shots within the court. Sometimes going for too much will backfire and the Frenchwoman certainly understood it the hard way as she was broken once more for a 2-5 deficit.
Serving for the first set, Wang was forced to save a break point before earning two set points of her own. Unexpectedly, it was Mladenovic who found life in her game and raised her game to a whole new level, playing some outstanding tennis to break straight back and minimize the deficit.
And just like how the first set went by, Mladenovic’s adrenaline lasted barely a second. Her vulnerable second serves were being exploited and she threw in another double-fault — her fourth of the set, to gift Wang her third set point, which she dutifully converted with a beautiful forehand winner.
Wang edges through in break fest, claims the win in straight sets
The second set saw the receivers thriving as the servers failed to dominate on serve. The closest we were to a service hold was in the second game when Mladenovic blew a 40-0 lead and six game points in total to hand the break back to Wang. The Frenchwoman gained the lead on three different occasions but her opponent pegged back without fail on every single occasion, applying the pressure on the Frenchwoman’s serve which used to be so devastating.
The first hold finally arrived in the seventh game, with Mladenovic producing four unforced errors to simply gift Wang a confidence-boosting hold. Down 3-6, 3-4 and having not held her serve in the second set, trouble was brewing for Mladenovic who had a must-hold service game which followed.
However, pressure overwhelmed Mladenovic as she threw in an abundance of errors, including her seventh double-fault of the day as Wang earned the golden opportunity to serve for the win. She did not disappoint, serving out the match to love with a second serve ace on match point to seal the win in style.
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