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Kristina Mladenovic Photo by Tatiana

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Kristina Mladenovic

Born on 14th May 1993,Kristina Mladenovic is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She has carried the hopes of her country at Roland Garros for the last few years.She is among the country’s best players in her generation and is expected to be a role model for the future generation of tennis players in the country. 

Mladenovic has achieved a fair bit of success in singles, but has been a huge hit in doubles, winning multiple Grand Slams in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She has a unique game style which has helped her team and has downed many of her opponents over the years.Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts about her;

1.She was born in Saint-Pol-sur-Mer to a family of players

Kristina Mladenovic was born in Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, in the Nord department of France to a family of playing parents. Her father is Dragan Mladenović, who was a former Yugoslav handball player of Kosovo Serb origin, and her mother Dženita Helić is a Serbian former volleyball player of Bosniak origin.

They moved to France in 1992 when Dragan was signed by Dunkerque HGL and have been living in the county since then going on to become French citizens over the years. Mladenovic has a brother named Luka. The family gave her the support she needed to succeed since she was young and are always there for her. 

2.Her nickname is “Kiki” and she started playing aged only 8

Kristina Mladenovic (KIKI) in 2015 Photo by Christian Mesiano

Mladenovic has been given the nickname ‘Kiki’, and she started playing tennis at the age of eight. She made a name for herself at a very tender age, coming through the ranks with the ball and although she has enjoyed a lot of success on clay and hardcourts, her favorite surface is grass.

Mladenovic was a very successful junior player in 2006 and 2007 with the European Under-14 singles championships winning it in 2007. She went on to win the 2009 French Open girls’ title and ascending to the World No. 1 ranking later that year. 

3.Mladenovic started her career in 2006 and made her professional debut in 2009

Mladenovic started her career playing juniors in May 2006 and by 2007, she had become the European Under-14 singles champion.Her biggest junior achievement was at the 2009 French Open girls’ singles, where she beat Daria Gavrilova of Russia in two sets in the final. Her highest junior ranking was No. 1, on 8 June 2009. 

She made her professional debut in 2009 making her Grand Slam debut at that year’s Australian Open. At the Australian Open, she received a wildcard, but was defeated by No. 14 seed Patty Schnyder. She has since become one of the best tennis players the country has had in years and could be set for more success in the future. 

4.Mladenovic is capable of playing from anywhere on the court 

Kristina Mladenovic hits a running forehand while playing at the 2021 Nottingham Open Photo by Chris Czermak

Mladenovic is capable of playing from anywhere on the court, and uses her movements which are her most important characteristics to aggressively take the ball on. She also likes to set up points with her serve, either following it up with a big forehand or a net approach.Her forehand is her strongest wing, and she is capable of hitting this shot both flat, and with topspin. 

She also uses the drop shot and lob as surprise tactics, doing her best to keep her opponents on their toes all the time. Her backhand is also a solid shot, and she is capable of hitting her two-hander consistently and can hit backhand winners frequently; she does tend to utilise her sliced backhand more frequently to change the pace of the rally.

5.She has an inconsistent second serve which is her weakness 

Kristina Mladenovic Photo by Tatiana

Mladenovic has a big first serve, which often comes to her aid when she’s in troubleand which one of her strengths though her second serve is quite inconsistent, which is one of her weaknesses and she can be guilty of making too many double faults on occasions, when using that second serve. 

Mladenovic’s movement around the court is also not bad, but she can struggle at times when pushed behind the baseline. She also makes a few mistakes with her shot selection on occasion, which can lead to a few too many unforced errors.It sometimes fails her in important games. 

6.She is Multilingual

Kristina Mladenovic is Multilingual and can speak up to five languages, including English, French, Serbian and Tunisian Arabic which she recently talked while there during her game. She won over a slew of new fans after sweeping the Jasmin Open doubles title with Katerina Siniakova, charming the crowd with short speech in Tunisian Arabic.

The former WTA doubles No. 1 is famously adept at languages—knowing as many as five fluently—and though she was in uncharted territory in Monastir, she earned high marks from Tunisia’s favorite daughter Ons Jabeur and gave a very good speech in Tunisian Arabic. 

7.Mladenovic has won 24 WTA titles in the doubles category and one in the singles category

Timea Babos & Kiki Mladenovic with the doubles trophy Photo by Peter Menzel

Kristina Mladenovic has won 24 WTA titles in the doubles category and one in the singles category.Similarly, she has also achieved seven ITF titles in the doubles category and four more in the singles category.These titles have earned her global recognition over the years and makes one of the most sought after tennis players in France. 

Some of her significant career achievements were reaching World’s No.10 in the singles category and World’s No.1 in the doubles category. She could be set for more in future judging her from her experience and potential. She could also help her country France to more national trophies and awards apart from her personal success. 

8.She became the first Frenchwoman to win the title of WTA Premier singles since June 2011

Kristina Mladenovic became the first Frenchwoman to win the title of WTA Premier singles since June 2011. Her exceptional success made her reach a career-high WTA ranking of No. 26 in the singles category.Moreover, Mladenovic was part of the nomination group for WTA Breakthrough Player of the Month, WTA Shot of the Month, and WTA Player of the Month.

She has also won the WTA Breakthrough Player of the Month. Kristina focused on her singles career for the 2017 season. She was seeded to No.28 after defeating a German tennis player, Annika Beck.Her success in these games is down to much efforts she puts in both training and the game itself. 

9.Mladenovic has been in a relationship with Dominic Thiem

Kristina dated an Austrian tennis athlete Dominic Thiem who is her only known boyfriend and they dated around mid 2017. The couple, however kept their relationship secret and confirmed it a year later, around May 2018 on social media. The two love birds seemed to be too much in love then. 

However, Kristina and Dominic, the two love birds ended their relationship in November 2019 and stated the reason for their separation as lacking enough time for each other. In an interview, Theim stated that as both were professional tennis athletes, they had to travel a lot and didn’t have much time together. 

10.Her net worth is around $10 million 

Kristina Mladenovic’s net worth is around $ 10 million and she got most of her wealth from her career as a professional tennis player. She also into commercials and endorsements. Kristina Mladenovic’s Endorsements are the Wilson racquets which she uses. 

Her outfit is also sponsored by Adidas, which one of the biggest brands in the world of sport.She also participates in charity including the virtual Roland Garros event in June 2020, where she participated and the proceeds were distributed in the fight against COVID-19.