To argue that nothing has gone well for Kristina Mladenovic of late would be an understatement. At the United States (US) Open, she saw herself out of singles play following what she termed the most painful loss of her career. Not long after, she was booted out of the doubles field — in which she and partner Timea Babos held the top seed — for having played cards with virus-stricken Benoit Paire. And the end of the month proved to be just as bad as the start; she went one and done at the French Open, her home country’s major event.
Taken in and of themselves, the developments were certified downers for Mladenovic. What made them particularly hard to swallow were extraordinary circumstances. In early September, it wasn’t simple that she bowed to Varvara Gracheva, who ranked outside the Top 100 and was in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time ever. It was that she did so after serving for the second-round match at 6-1, 5-1; she went on to give up the second set in a tiebreak and claim a bagel in the third.
Parenthetically, US Open officials saw fit to strictly enforce health protocols to Mladenovic and Babos’ detriment despite continued negative tests while under quarantine, only to seemingly relax them in another case. And at the French Open the other day, she served for the set at 5-1, only to unravel as a result of a double bounce that unranked opponent Laura Siegemund declined to acknowledge and chair umpire Eva Asderaki failed to notice. Never mind that broadcast replays clearly showed it.
To be sure, unfortunate breaks are part and parcel of tennis. For all the misfortunes, Mladenovic should have been able to overcome them, given her talent and experience. Instead, she was left to do post-mortems in which she couldn’t help but be alternately flummoxed and angry. In her pressers, she pointed fingers at herself, at the US Tennis Association and Asderaki. Meanwhile, Siegemund appeared totally oblivious to the underpinnings of sportsmanship; “I’m coming running full speed. If in that call I say, ‘Oh, it was a double bounce,’ and later I see on the video it was not, I would be angry at myself.” Lost in the translation: the fact that the violation was obvious, and even assuming an ounce of doubt, the notion that the spirit of fair play calls for giving way and not plowing through.
That said, Mladenovic has only herself to rely on moving forward. If she’s truly bent on honing her craft, she should have no time for self-pity. Else, the blame will rightly be hers to take. Life goes on. She should, too.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
