Kristina Mladenovic's stunning first round win over Li Na in Paris 2014

After a stellar junior career, highlighted by a French Open triumph in 2009, there were high hopes for Kristina Mladenovic when she joined the senior ranks. However, this expectation has weighed heavily on the young Frenchwoman, whose ranking has yo-yoed since graduating to the WTA. 

 The start of 2014 was particularly lean and she went into her first round meeting with No.2 seed Li Na in Paris with just a handful of wins to her name. If she was short on confidence, it did not show, as she took the match to the former champion from the off. An accomplished doubles player, Mladenovic took every opportunity to exhibit her all-court skills, venturing to the net to fend off a set point at 5-4 before returning a couple of games later to help serve it out. "After the draw I wasn't very happy, but I made sure I prepared as well as I could and was ready to play my best tennis," Mladenovic said. "When I got on court, I thought, 'I'm at home, be positive.'" Mladenovic targeted Li's misfiring forehand throughout and it was a tactic that paid rich dividends. "I tried to get my forehand into play and attack her forehand whenever I could and it worked well. I'm really glad I could produce such good tennis in front of all these supporters!"