French Open: No comeback this time for Kristina Mladenovic

It seemed like Mother Nature was doing her utmost to help Kristina Mladenovic at the French Open Tuesday but she just couldn’t take advantage.

Indeed this time there was no comeback for France’s top hope to end a 17-year singles drought at Roland Garros as the 13th seed was defeated by Timea Bacsinszky 6-4 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Bacsinszky’s opponent in the last four won’t be former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki but rather the 2014 Wimbledon junior champion Jelena Ostapenko. When they battle Thursday, they’ll both be celebrating a birthday.

“It’s pretty funny,” Bacsinszky, soon to be 28, told reporters. “I think it’s pretty cool, though. I saw her in the gym just right after our matches today and so we both said to each other, ‘Well done.’”

Even though she is unseeded, Ostapenko’s 4-6 6-2 6-2 victory could hardly be classified an upset as the 19-year-old Latvian has now beaten the Dane three times on clay since April, striking a combined 148 winners in the process.

She is the first Latvian woman in the Open Era to make a grand slam semifinal and first teen into the semis at Roland Garros since Ana Ivanovic in 2007.

On a wet, windy, unseasonably cold day in Paris, rain forced the first two men’s quarterfinals to be pushed back to Wednesday.

It also halted proceedings with Bacsinszky leading Mladenovic by a set.

A three-hour delay ensued – the French Open is the lone grand slam without a roof, though that will finally change in 2020 – the type that can so often switch momentum in matches.

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And sure enough Mladenovic – who trailed Jennifer Brady 3-0 in the third set in the first round and a second American, Shelby Rogers, 5-2 in the third set in the third round – temporarily lifted her game to lead 3-1 in the second.

But the 30th-seeded Swiss won the next three games to lead by a break, 4-3.

That’s when the heavens opened up again. This time the evening pause was much shorter.

Second rain delay

Yet given a second opportunity to turn things around, Mladenovic still was unable to capitalize.

“I think she managed to play way better than me,” Mladenovic said. “Maybe her game suits these kinds of conditions better, so at times when I wanted to be more aggressive, I did too many errors. I still had some opportunities here and there but didn’t make it.

“At the end, it’s a quite close scoreboard, 4 and 4, but I feel I’m very far from the game I could have shown.”

Bacsinszky saved a break point in the final game to move into a second semifinal at the French Open in the last three seasons.

She had virtually quit the sport in 2013, tired of the game, and has spoken openly about how her father pushed her into tennis.

If the weather gods tried to assist Mladenovic in one way, in another way they did not. The court was hardly full of spectators on the damp, nippy day, unlike on Sunday when the 24-year-old fed off the energy of a packed house and ousted defending champion Garbine Muguruza amid warm sunshine.

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But Mladenovic said there was nothing wrong with the atmosphere.

One Frenchwoman however does remain in the draw: The player Mladenovic won the doubles title with last year in Paris, Caroline Garcia, who will play second-seed Karolina Pliskova in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

A lot has changed since a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal became only the second man in history to win Roland Garros at the first attempt. The bulging biceps, long hair and headband remain, but the Spaniard's sense of style has certainly changed.

2005 —

Nadal went into his first French Open as an inexperienced 18-year-old and emerged a grand slam champion -- beating Roger Federer in the semifinals on his 19th birthday. The 2005 season was the birth of what would go on to be Nadal's classic look: sleeveless top and three-quarter length shorts.

2006 —

By the following year, Nadal had cemented his place among tennis' elite and was developing a fearsome reputation on clay. This time wearing a slightly less garish light blue, Nadal picked up his second consecutive French Open title by becoming the first man to beat Roger Federer in a grand slam final.

2007 —

In 2007, the then 20-year-old Nadal's status as the 'King of Clay' was sealed. Defeat to Federer at the Masters Series in Hamburg ended an 81-match unbeaten streak on clay, which remains a men's Open Era record today. At that year's French Open, Nadal opted for the reverse of 2006's top-bandana combo -- this time with matching trainers to boot.

2008 —

A year later, Nadal opted for a variation on his debut French Option look, this time sporting an all-green combo. Nadal reached world No. 1 for the first time in his career in 2008, helped by his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title -- matching Bjorn Borg's record of consecutive trophies, while also becoming only the seventh man to win a grand slam without dropping a set.

2009 —

Nadal's first dramatic transformation came in 2009. Gone were the sleeveless shirts and three-quarter lengths, in came the sleeves and fluorescent, clashing colors. Perhaps it was the sleeves restricting the powerful arms (or maybe a knee injury), but Nadal suffered the first of only two French Open defeats. Despite a shock fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros.

2010 —

In 2010, Nadal bounced back from the 2009 disappointment with a daring multicolored number. He went on to exact revenge on Soderling, beating him in the final after the Swede had upset Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer's failure to reach the semis meant Nadal regained the world No. 1 spot, while it was also the second time he won the French Open without dropping a set.

2011 —

The following year, Nadal dialed down the brightness, instead choosing to return to one of his earliest Roland Garros styles. And it worked -- he maintained his No. 1 ranking throughout the clay court season and beat perennial rival Federer in the final.

2012 —

Perhaps in an attempt to gain the upper hand on opponents by blending into the clay, Nadal opted for an orange-ish-red look for the first time at the French Open. It appeared to work, as Nadal dropped just 30 games in the first five rounds, before beating Djokovic in four sets in the final to claim his seventh Roland Garros title and surpass Borg as the tournament's most successful player.

2013 —

The 2013 French Open was the debut of Nadal's latest wardrobe change: the short shorts. In an all-Spanish final, Nadal defeated David Ferrer in straight sets -- although bizarrely dropped from fourth in the world to fifth after his victory.

2014 —

Perhaps a sign of entering into his late 20s, Nadal's colors switched from fluorescent to more mellow tones. Despite being hampered by injuries and suffering surprise defeats early in the clay court season, Nadal grinded out arguably his most impressive Roland Garros victory. Another victory in the final against Djokovic took him to 14 grand slams (level with Pete Sampras) and it was his fifth straight French Open triumph.

2015 —

Nadal's struggle to find form continued into 2015's clay court season, dropping outside of the world's top five for the first time since 2005. Looking like an athletic version of the Cookie Monster, Nadal crashed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals to Djokovic. It ended his 39-match unbeaten run and marked just his second defeat on the Parisian clay.

2016 —

The following year, the shorts got even shorter and the two-tone top returned as Nadal exited the French Open in the third round -- although this time it was a wrist injury that defeated him. Despite the disappointment, there was another milestone for Nadal as he became only the eighth man to reach 200 grand slam wins.

2017 —

Nadal debuted his strong blue look against Benoit Paire in the first round and the King of Clay went on to complete "'La Decima" of 10 Roland Garros titles.

French Open: Rafael Nadal's Roland Garros evolution

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Clay isn’t Wozniacki’s preferred surface but without her close friend Serena Williams in the field – the American is pregnant – she might have felt she had as good of a chance as any player to win the title.

Ultimately it wasn’t meant to be and the 26-year-old’s wait for a maiden grand slam title continues.

“I did my best and I tried to win today,” Wozniacki said. “It didn’t happen for me. In the end of the day, I’m just looking at it in this certain match.

“And I’m going to get another chance in a few weeks at Wimbledon and I’m going to try to take advantage of that.”

Due to the inclement weather Tuesday, all four men’s quarterfinals are also scheduled for Wednesday. The pick of the bunch sees defending champion Novak Djokovic meet the second most successful player on clay this season, Dominic Thiem.

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A resurgent Rafael Nadal has been the top performer on the dirt and the nine-time French Open champion will be expected to get past fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in his quarterfinal.