2011 Hopman Cup: Review Session 8: Laura Robson vs. Kristina Mladenovic
France increased her chances of making it to the final of the 2011 Hopman Cup (held in Perth) today after winning her Tie with Great Britain. The latter suffered her second defeat at the event while France now stands in second
place with Italy with one win each.
Starting play for the day were Laura Robson and Kristina Mladenovic playing the women’s singles match. Having met twice as juniors, this was the two players’ first meeting as professionals. Although Mladenovic is debuting at the
event, Robson is playing for the second straight year at the event having appeared alongside Andy Murray in 2010.
Although Great Britain made it to the finals last year, Robson’s only victory at the event last year came in the final when she met and defeated Maria Martinez. Robson started her 2011 run at the event in the same manner, losing
her opening clash to much higher ranked Francesca Schiavone in straight sets. Though kudos to Robson for putting up one h**l of a fight against the 2010 Roland Garros winner.
Like Robson, Mladenovic lost her opening clash at the event having played Serena William’s replacement at the event, Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Although she did win the opener 6-3, she failed to maintain her form losing the next two
and in effect the match. She entered her match with Robson standing at a 0-1 win-loss mark.
Starting strong, Mladenovic once again won the first set before losing the second. Opening serve in the opener, Mladenovic lost the first two games allowing a 0-2 trail. However, she bounced back to lead 5-3 before clinching the
first set 6-4. The French player, however, failed to maintain her form into the second set losing it 3-6. With one set each the match entered the decider. Bouncing back with full force, Mladenovic dominated the decider and cruised to a bagel win (6-0), winning
her first match at the event and allowing France a 1-0 lead in her Tie against Great Britain.
Delighted over her win after an injury plagued 2010, Mladenovic said, 'I’m very happy to be back on court because I had a very tough and intense time when I was injured all the year. I’m just very happy to manage to play like this
already and it’s just a pleasure to be back on court. The atmosphere is unbelievable here. I take a lot of pleasure to play with this crowd. It’s a great experience for me and I’m looking forward to coming back here a few years. I just try every day to work
on my game, I’m very powerful and I have very long arms and legs. If I’m not in the right position I can make big, big mistakes. I have to be very tough, with attention on my precision and I’m just focusing enough to take my shape back and play more as possible.''
Mladenovic plays her final round robin clash on Friday against Schiavone while Robson plays hers against Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
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