Kristin Mladenovic fell just short of winning the "Junior Channel Slam", but the 16-year-old out of Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, Nord, France looks to have an exciting future in women's professional tennis, which could certainly use some new personalities. (Cont. )
Mladenovic won the junior championship at the French Open, but after winning the first set of the Wimbledon junior final, apparently tired and ended up second to Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, of Thailand.
At 5 ft 11 inches and only 132 pounds, Mladenovic has surprising power. She served at up to 122 MPH at Wimbledon; although the stats are rather incomplete for the juniors, she reportedly averaged in the teens in one match. One can imagine the serve will only improve as she adds bulk to a stick-thin frame.
Presumably her now paltry bio on the WTA site will fill up.
Picture is from a French language blog:
French citizenship, Serbian (or therabouts) name. Yet another example of Eastern European players wandering west (or their parents taking them), in the fine tradition of Martina Hingis.
Posted by: Ehkzu | July 12, 2009 at 12:28 PM