French fans’ last hope falls
PARIS: Chants of ‘‘KikiKikiKiki’’ resonated around Court PhilippeChatrier yesterday, but the echoes of that sonic support are all that remain of the local fans’ big hope for a French Open champion.
Home favourite Kristina ‘‘Kiki’’ Mladenovic failed to handle the atmosphere, the wind or the rain, as well as Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky, who checked into the semifinals with a 64, 64 win.
Thirteenthseed Mladenovic had played with tears in her eyes and left the arena in a similar state. Bacsinszky was thrilled.
‘‘I knew she would be a formidable opponent,’’ the 30th seed said, grinning. ‘‘We had everything today: a hurricane, and sand storms, nice weather, and almost snow . . . it was really complicated to stay focused throughout the day.’’
She now has time to regroup before meeting 19yearold Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who won 16 of the last 21 games for a 46, 62, 62 victory over Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark.
Mladenovic had high hopes of becoming the first French champion since Mary Pierce in 2000, but never really clicked.
While not looking especially anxious, ‘‘Kiki’’ had looked emotional throughout and dropped serve straight away. The 24yearold quickly levelled matters up with a break of her own.
Eighty kilometre per hour winds gusted through the grounds as both players, skidding through clouds of clay, picked grit out of their eyes.
Both players struggled to hold serve but, leading 54, Bacsinszky fired down an ace to seal the set.
The pair held serve to open the second set and, with Mladenovic
facing a break point in the third game, the players were called off court as heavy rain swept the stadium.
It was more than three hours before play could resume, and, when it did, Mladenovic fought off that break point to nose into the lead, then broke herself for a 31 advantage.
Once more, that ‘‘KikiKikiKiki’’ chant was the soundtrack to Court PhilippeChatrier, but it was a shortlived affair, as Bacsinszky broke twice, either side of a held service game, to be
leading 43 and serving.
The Frenchwoman won the first point of the game, but the pair were then called off court again as the skies darkened.
They returned about half an hour later. A backhand bunted wide gave Bacsinszky a 53 lead, and forced Mladenovic to serve to stay in the hunt.
She held to force Bacsinszky to serve it out, and the Swiss was equal to the task, ensuring she gets to play in the semifinals on her birthday.
Quirkily enough, while Bacsin
szky turns 28 on Friday, her opponent, Ostapenko, will be 20 the same day.
A Rafael Nadal barely broke sweat to reach the French Open semifinals last night as fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta quit with an injury less than an hour into their quarterfinal.
Nadal, bidding for a 10th title at Roland Garros, was leading 62, 20 when Carreno Busta, who had received lengthy treatment on an abdominal injury at the end of the first set, decided he could not continue. — Reuters