Kristina Mladenovic sensationally knocked Li Na out of
the French Open after a 7-5 3-6 6-1 first round victory over the former
champion.
Li, who won the Roland Garros crown in 2011 as well as
the Australian Open this year, was eliminated early on in Paris for the second
straight year.
French hope Mladenovic, who was ranked No 1 in the world
as a junior, delighted her home crowd with a breakthrough display on Court
Suzanne Lenglen.
After edging the first set it looked like she had missed
her chance when Li fought back in the second, but the 21-year-old found a
brilliant response and dominated the second seed in the decider.
Mladenovic won the French Open as a junior in 2009 and
also took the mixed doubles crown at Wimbledon last year. Despite those successes
she has so far failed to live up to her potential as a singles player and this
season has dropped outside the top 100.
But she was able to take advantage when Li produced an
erratic performance and burst into tears after completing the upset.
Li becomes the first woman to win the Australian Open
then lose in the first round of the French since Lindsay Davenport 14 years
ago.
"It's incredible, without you I would not have done
it," an emotional Mladenovic told her home fans.
"When such a player comes back in the match, you
know you will have to seize every opportunity. I have been working hard."
Culled from Skysports
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