Having to face the top seed in the second round is less than ideal for any player, and it is even worse when you have to play them in front of their home country and adoring fans.
That is the situation facing Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic today. The 20 year-old isn’t too worried though.
“The Australian crowd are nice, even if they are cheering for their own players,” she said. “They still applause for the nice points and the opponent, so I’m really excited about playing in front of this crowd and being on centre court.”
Mladenovic, who reached a career-high ranking of 37 last year, is visiting Hobart for the first time. She started her 2014 season in Brisbane last week, where she reached the doubles final.
“I’ve been a little bit surprised by the climate to be honest. I’ve come from Brisbane where a couple of days ago it was 45 degrees. It’s a little bit cold here but the club and all the people here are very nice,” she said.
Mladenovic is an accomplished doubles player, having won seven WTA titles and reached a career-high ranking of 13 last year. She made two grand slam mixed doubles finals in 2013, winning the Wimbledon title.
The six-foot Mladenovic said her doubles success had played a pivotal role in her rise up the singles rankings in the past 12 months.
“It helps me a lot for my singles game,” she said. “It’s very important for me because it is good practice. I would prefer to go out and play an official match rather than going on the practice court and doing drills. It helps me a lot in my game, because I’m trying to use my serve and be very aggressive and move forward to the net.”
These are the tactics Mladenovic will employ against Australia’s top-ranked player. The match is the second match on the Domain Tennis Centre’s centre court today.
Mladenovic has played Stosur once, in the second round at last year’s French Open.
“We had a good match,” Mladenovic said. “It was a really close two sets win to her. I thought she played such a good match that day, I couldn’t break her. Obviously she is a great player and a grand slam champion but I will be looking for revenge here and just try and do my best.”
Mladenovic knows she will need to lift against the world no. 17 after struggling through three tight sets against lucky loser Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the first round on Monday.
“I had a tough match and I’m happy I got through it. I’m taking the positives out of the win and telling myself I can handle this wind,” she said.
Mladenovic prepared for today’s second round match with a visit to Tassal’s The Salmon Shop in Hobart’s Salamanca Place yesterday with her father Dragan, who won an Olympic Games gold medal in handball in 1984. She was full of smiles as she tasted some local Tasmanian salmon and explored the picturesque city.
> Take a look at the photo gallery of Mladenovic’s visit to Tassal’s The Salmon Shop
Her focus today will turn to her clash with Stosur, where a win will help her goal of improving her current world ranking of 54 and taking the next step to cement a place among the game’s top players.
“The main goal is to stay healthy. Being able to compete 100 per cent every day is the biggest goal then of course I want to improve my game. I’m still young and I’m striving to be as good as possible,” she said.