Ambitious Kiki Gets Biggest Win

France's young star Kristina Mladenovic has long been searching for a big breakthrough in singles. The two-time Grand Slam mixed-doubles champion is already a reputed doubles specialist, but Kiki has fallen behind in the last 12 months, being unable to establish herself as one of the leading ladies of the game.

So far this season has not been promising. In addition to winning the mixed-doubles title in Melbourne with Daniel Nestor, there's pretty much nothing to stand out in her resume. Nevertheless, tennis can be surprising at times, and sometime you get to win the lottery. All it takes is one great performance to put your career back on track. Just look at Halep's unbelievable rise after Rome 2013. Hopefully the same will happen with Mladenovic, who today stunned world No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion, Chinese Na Li, in the first round of the French Open.

"Look at this season. I went down in the rankings. I was in the Top 50 in the middle of last year, and I'm not longer in the Top 100. But it's only on paper. I've always believed in myself, and I still believed in myself today, and that's how I could put up such a good fight and play so well out there.

"I knew I had this in me. I'm very ambitious. I've never hidden that. And this is such a good win."

It was an extremely tough match for the Frenchwoman who held her nerve after a second set hiccup to eventually close out a 7-5,3-6,6-1 victory over her more prestigious opponent.

"It's definitely a huge thing for me, first round of a Grand Slam and at home at Roland Garros, and it's Li Na," Mladenovic said. "She's such a tough player, an amazing player, a Grand Slam champion. This is really big. You don’t beat Li Na every day."

Next up for Kiki is American Alison Riske and she the 2009 French Open junior champion is  determined to progress deep into the tournament. She has a huge game, a whipping serve and powerful groundstrokes on both wings. If she becomes more consistent, she can surely make the big jump. Hope she can keep up the momentum. Allez, Kiki!

Cheered by the partisan crowd, Kiki Mladenovic got the biggest win of her career, stunning world No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion, Chinese Na Li, 7-5,3-6,6-1 to progress to the second round of the French Open.

photo: GETTY IMAGES