Kristina Mladenovic is a professional tennis player from France, renowned for her achievements in doubles, where she once held the title of world number one. Her highest singles ranking reached world No. 10. Mladenovic has secured nine Grand Slam titles, including victories in women’s doubles at the French Open in 2016 and 2022 alongside Caroline Garcia, as well as the Australian Open in 2018, and the French Open in 2019 and 2020, and the Australian Open in 2020 with partner Timea Babos. In mixed doubles, she triumphed at the Wimbledon Championships in 2013 and the Australian Open in 2014 with Daniel Nestor, and again at the 2022 Australian Open with Ivan Dodig. Additionally, she has reached six more major finals in both women’s and mixed doubles categories. Over her career, Mladenovic has claimed 28 doubles titles, which include victories at the WTA Finals in 2018 and 2019, along with four titles at the WTA 1000 level.
Born on May 14, 1993, in Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, Kristina “Kiki” Mladenovic began her tennis journey at an early age, entering the junior circuit in May 2006. In 2007, she achieved the title of European Under-14 singles champion. Her most significant accomplishment in junior tennis came when she won the girls’ singles title at the 2009 French Open, defeating Russia’s Daria Gavrilova in straight sets in the final. Kristina Mladenovic also reached the finals in both girls’ singles and doubles at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, although she was unable to secure victory in either event.
Kristina Mladenovic turned professional in 2009, making her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open that year, where she received a wildcard but was eliminated in the opening round. In July, she qualified for the Prague Open, yet again faced an early exit in the first round. At the Internationaux de Strasbourg, Kristina Mladenovic achieved her first victory on the WTA Tour, rallying from a 2:5 deficit in the third set to win the tiebreak against Stefanie Vögele. In 2011, she secured her inaugural Senior title at a $25k tournament in Sutton, overcoming Mona Barthel in the final. This success was quickly followed by another victory in Stockholm the subsequent week, where she triumphed over Arantxa Rus.
In 2012, Kristina Mladenovic captured her first WTA Tour title in any category at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, partnering with Klaudia Jans-Ignacik to win the doubles event. She advanced to the third round of the US Open after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, marking her entry into the top 100 of the rankings for the first time. Additionally, Mladenovic won the inaugural WTA 125 event, the Taipei Ladies Open, where she also claimed the doubles title.
nKristina Mladenovic achieved significant milestones in her career during 2013, reaching the semifinals at the Open GdF Suez. In mixed doubles, she partnered with Daniel Nestor to advance to the final of the French Open, where they faced defeat. Nevertheless, they found success at Wimbledon, where they secured Mladenovic’s inaugural Grand Slam title in mixed doubles. Their impressive performance continued at the US Open, where they reached the semifinals.
In 2014, Kristina Mladenovic commenced the year on a high note by winning her second mixed-doubles title at the Australian Open alongside Daniel Nestor. The duo also triumphed at the Open GdF Suez. During the singles event at Roland Garros, she achieved a notable upset by defeating Li Na, the world number two and 2011 champion, in the first round, marking her first victory over a top-5 player. She maintained her strong form, advancing to the Round of 32. At Wimbledon, Kristina Mladenovic teamed up with TÃmea Babos, reaching their first Grand Slam final in women’s doubles, although they were ultimately defeated by Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in straight sets.
Kristina Mladenovic commenced the 2015 season with a second-round defeat in the Australian Open singles against Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Nevertheless, she and her partner Daniel Nestor advanced to the final of the mixed-doubles competition. Mladenovic reached the semifinals in Marrakesh, where she was defeated by her doubles partner, Timea Babos. However, she continued to perform well, ultimately reaching her first WTA Tour singles final in Strasbourg, where she lost to Samantha Stosur. At the US Open, she made it to the quarterfinals, achieving victories over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Bojana Jovanovski, lucky loser Daria Kasatkina, and Ekaterina Makarova, before being eliminated by the eventual finalist Roberta Vinci. This performance allowed her to enter the Top 30 of the WTA singles rankings for the first time in her career.
In 2016, Kristina Mladenovic reached the singles semifinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg and secured the French Open doubles title alongside Caroline Garcia. This victory marked the first Grand Slam women’s doubles championship for both players and made them the first all-French duo to win the French Open women’s doubles title since Gail Chanfreau and Françoise Durr in 1971. In June, she reached her second WTA Tour singles final at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, where she was defeated by CoCo Vandeweghe. Mladenovic participated in the singles, doubles, and mixed-doubles events at the London Olympics. In the women’s singles, she was eliminated in the second round by Madison Keys, while in both the women’s doubles, partnering with Caroline Garcia, and the mixed-doubles, partnering with Pierre-Hugues Herbert, she faced first-round exits.
At the 2016 US Open doubles tournament, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia advanced to the final, securing their qualification for the WTA Finals and becoming the second doubles team to achieve this milestone. Shortly before the WTA Finals commenced, they were honored with the WTA Award for Best Doubles Team of the Year. During the WTA Finals, the French duo triumphed over Julia Gorges and Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals but were defeated by Mattek-Sands and Safarova in the semifinals. In December, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia were recognized as the doubles ITF World Champions for 2016. At the conclusion of the year, Kristina Mladenovic was ranked No. 42 in singles and tied for No. 2 in doubles alongside Garcia.
Kristina Mladenovic commenced the 2017 season by participating in the Hopman Cup with Richard Gasquet. The duo delivered an impressive performance, ultimately winning the title and making France the champions of the 2017 Hopman Cup. Together with Caroline Garcia, Mladenovic reached the semifinals of the Australian Open women’s doubles, and at the St Petersburg Ladies’ Trophy, she secured her first WTA Premier singles title. She reached her second WTA final of the year in Dubai but was defeated by Lesia Tsurenko. Before the Indian Wells Open, Kristina Mladenovic announced the conclusion of her doubles partnership with Garcia, as Garcia wished to concentrate on her singles career. Consequently, Mladenovic partnered with Svetlana Kuznetsova for the doubles event at Indian Wells. In singles, she advanced to the semifinals, while in doubles, she reached the quarterfinals.
At the 2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Kristina Mladenovic achieved a significant milestone by defeating top-seeded Angelique Kerber and three-time champion Maria Sharapova, which allowed her to advance to her third WTA Tour singles final of the year. Unfortunately, she was unable to secure the title, losing to German wildcard Laura Siegemund in a closely contested three-set match. Mladenovic also reached her first Premier Mandatory singles final at the Madrid Open, where she triumphed over her doubles partner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals, but ultimately fell to third-seeded Simona Halep in the final, again in three sets.
In the latter half of the 2017 season, her performance declined. At Wimbledon, she was eliminated in the second round of singles, during which she sustained a right knee injury. The following four months proved challenging as she struggled to regain her form and experienced a significant loss of confidence.
Kristina Mladenovic started the 2018 season at the Brisbane International, where she was defeated in the first round. In her subsequent tournament, the Sydney International, she had to retire during the second set of her first-round match due to heat stress. Her difficulties continued at the Australian Open, where she lost her opening match in straight sets, marking her 15th consecutive defeat in singles. However, she managed to reverse her fortunes by winning the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open alongside Timea Babos, thereby securing her second Grand Slam title in women’s doubles.
Kristina Mladenovic next competed in St. Petersburg as the reigning singles champion. She progressed to her first WTA Tour singles final since the Madrid Open the previous year, where she faced Petra Kvitova but was defeated in straight sets. At the French Open, Mladenovic and her partner Timea Babos entered the tournament as the top seeds in women’s doubles; however, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the unseeded Japanese duo of Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya. Despite this setback, the pair secured the title at the Birmingham tournament.
In 2019, Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos returned as the defending champions at the Australian Open, reaching the final once again but ultimately losing to Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. They also advanced to the final of the French Open, during which Kristina Mladenovic ascended to the position of the world’s number-one doubles player. In that final, they triumphed over Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai, claiming their third Grand Slam title. Mladenovic played a pivotal role in the 2019 Fed Cup final against Australia, contributing significantly to France’s victory and securing their first title since 2003 by winning all three of her matches.
In 2020, Kristina Mladenovic added two more Grand Slam doubles titles to her achievements alongside Timea Babos, winning at the 2020 Australian Open and successfully defending their title at the 2020 French Open.
At the 2021 Australian Open, Kristina Mladenovic advanced to the final of the Italian Open, teaming up with Czech player Marketa Vondrousova. They triumphed over the second-seeded Czech duo of Krejcikova and Siniakova in the quarterfinals, as well as local favorite Sara Errani and her partner Irina Begu in the semifinals. This impressive performance allowed Kristina Mladenovic to reclaim her position as the No. 1 ranked doubles player. However, she concluded her 2021 season in early October, citing both physical and mental challenges.
In the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open, Kristina Mladenovic, alongside Ivan Dodig, secured victory, marking her second mixed-doubles title at this Grand Slam, having previously won in 2014 with Daniel Nestor. This victory also represented her eighth Grand Slam title overall. At the French Open, she reached the final as a wildcard entry with fellow French player Caroline Garcia, ultimately winning her fourth title at this tournament. Additionally, she partnered with Katerina Siniakova to claim the doubles title at the Jasmin Open in October, and alongside Yanina Wickmayer, she achieved her 29th doubles title at the Korea Open.
Kristina Mladenovic was granted wildcards for the singles main draw at both the 2023 and 2024 French Opens. In collaboration with Zhang Shuai, she advanced to her third final at the 2024 US Open in Flushing Meadows, where they were defeated by the duo of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko. Additionally, teaming up with Veronika Erjavec, Mladenovic secured the doubles title at the 2024 WTA 125 Cali Open, triumphing over Tara Wurth and Katarina Zavatska in the final match.
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