 Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 26 Oct 2009 |
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| 25 Oct 2009 - Marco Massetani | |
| Kubler and Mladenovic triumph at Osaka Mayor's Cup |
Jason Kubler of Australia and France’s Kristina Mladenovic demonstrated their immense talent at the 2009 Osaka Mayor’s Cup as they claimed the season’s penultimate Grade A event, adding their name to the roll of honour which includes Caroline Wozniacki, Marin Cilic, Marcos Baghdatis, Jelena Dokic and Amelie Mauresmo.
16-year-old Kubler defeated home player Hiroyasu Ehara 60 46 62 in the final, whilst top seed Mladenovic beat her doubles partner Timea Babos of Hungary 76(5) 62 and added the singles crown to the doubles one she picked up on Saturday.
After his success in Osaka, Kubler was greatly satisfied. “I am very happy with my victory this week,” he said. “I’ve worked very hard lately and it’s paying off on the match court. Winning my first Grade A is very special to me. Hopefully, the next step for me is winning a Grand Slam. I would like to thank Tennis Australia and the National Academy, Brisbane, for all their support”.
Talented Kubler had already won two titles this year, atthe Oceania Closed Junior Championships in Fiji, and at the Northern Territory Junior Championships, Australia, but he emerged on the international scene three weeks ago, when he led Australia to a 2-1 win over Great Britain in the Final of the Junior Davis Cup BNP Paribas in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. In the Osaka boys’ final, Kubler started playing his usual tennis, with a powerful serve and deep top-spin shots, not losing a single game in the first set against eighth seed Ehara. In the second set Ehara managed to come back, breaking his opponent and forcing the Australian to a third set but Kubler responded strongly with a resolute performance to win.
Thirteen years after Amelie Mauresmo’s success, another French player won the girls’ title at the Osaka Mayor’s Cup as Roland Garros champion and world number two Kristina Mladenovic took her second Grade A crown of the season. 16-year-old Mladenovic, from Saint Pol sur Mer, was a finalist at the Banana Bowl and at Junior Wimbledon in 2009, also reaching the semi-finals at $100,000 Cagnes-Sur-Mer, where she defeated Viktoria Kutuzova and Julie Coin. At the moment she can boast a WTA ranking of 256.
In the girls’ final Mladenovic disposed of second seed Timea Babos with a straight sets win 76 (5) 63 but once again she began slowly, making a few ingenuous mistakes and fighting hard in a first set tie-break. In the second set Mladenovic hit impressive forehands, dominating her opponent, who hadn’t dropped any sets en route to the final. ”I'm very happy to have won today in the final – said Mladenovic - I expected a very tough match against Timi because we are very good friends, we are playing doubles together, so we know each other perfectly. We both knew that we couldn't play our best level, because it's a final and it's always difficult. But I think it was a great match at the end with a nice atmosphere, thanks to the big crowd that watched our match.”
Related Articles
> Kubler & Ehara in final at Osaka Mayor's Cup
> Kubler & Babos cruise into semifinals at Osaka Mayor's Cup
> Berta & Njiric Stunned in Osaka
> Mladenovic in superb form at Osaka Mayor's Cup
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