Baseline Awards of: 2019: Patriotic performance

A year after France reached the Fed Cup finals in 2016, the team was routed by Switzerland in the opening round. In 2018, the nation’s title hopes came to an end in the semifinals at the hands of the United States.

Kristina Mladenovic, a stalwart of all those French teams, had experienced the near-highs and lows of the women’s team competition, but had yet to be part of a championship-winning squad.

As France made its bid for the 2019 title, Mladenovic was absent from the first round against Belgium, but with Caroline Garcia back in the fold, the team easily advanced to the semifinals. In the final four, Garcia and Mladenovic teamed up to take the determining fifth rubber in doubles against Romania to send France into the final round.

Facing Australia, Mladenovic kicked off the proceedings with a near-perfect start as she beat Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-1, 6-1, in the opening rubber. Any momentum from that win, though, was lost right away as world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty thrashed Garcia, 6-0, 6-0, to level the tie. In the first reverse singles match, Mladenovic faced Barty, and in what would be one of the most thrilling battles of the year, the Frenchwoman edged out the Australian in a third-set tiebreak.

After Tomljanovic beat France’s Pauline Parmentier, it came down to the doubles to determine the winner. 2016 French Open victors took on Barty and Samantha Stosur, a former world No. 1 in doubles who happened to be part of a championship duo at the Australian Open earlier in the year. For the second tie in a row, Garcia and Mladenovic came up with the goods as they knocked off the Aussies in straight sets to clinch the title, France’s first since 2003.

The win capped a stellar season for Mladenovic, who was involved in all three winning points in the final for France. Her performance surely helped erase the disappointment of 2016, and also showed that patience and perseverance can pay off.