SHANGHAI: Unseeded Kristina Mladenovic defeated her former playing partner Caroline Garcia in a French grudge match at the Zhengzhou Open on Wednesday.
The duo, whose successful pairing saw them win the French Open women’s doubles in 2016, split a year later after Garcia called time on the teaming.
Mladenovic later said that she was disappointed at the way Garcia broke the news of the split to her.
But the 26-year-old got a very small measure of revenge in central China with a 7-5, 6-2 victory in their last-16 clash.
They shared an awkward exchange at the net at the end, with Garcia appearing initially to decline kissing her opponent on the cheeks.
The defeated Garcia, 25, was the eighth seed in Zhengzhou.
On Tuesday, American Alison Riske fought back from a set down to beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(6) in the first round, extending the former world number one’s poor run of form.
Riske held her nerve to save a match point in the third-set tiebreak before going on to inflict a fourth consecutive first-round defeat on Kerber, who was beaten by Kristina Mladenovic in her first match at the US Open.
The German, a three-times Grand Slam champion, was beaten in the second round at Wimbledon and suffered first round defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati in the run-up to the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows.
Mladenovic made short work of Chinese wildcard Duan Yingying earlier in the day, winning 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second round meeting with fellow Frenchwoman and her former doubles partner Caroline Garcia.
“It was very tricky conditions. It’s super humid and it’s never easy to start a tournament,” said Mladenovic, who won 79 per cent of her first serve points during the match.
“Every first round is difficult and Yingying, I’ve played her in the past and she’s a very powerful player with a big serve. I think the key today was the consistency on my serve, and I managed to read hers well, which is her biggest weapon.”
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko beat 23-year-old Chinese qualifier You Xiaodi 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16, while France’s Fiona Ferro and Alize Cornet also advanced. — Agencies
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