Planet Hopman

Hopman Cup competition is supposed to be relaxed event. It has nothing to do with either tour, but is a season-opening tradition which fans enjoy. This year, it has also been the source of quite a bit of drama. Serbia was undefeated, and therefore, in the final, but Ana Ivanovic sustained an injury and the Serbian team had to withdraw. Francesca Schiavone was also injured, and Yaroslava Shvedova was injured so badly that she will not play in the Australian Open.

Kristina Mladenovic will probably not soon forget this Hopman Cup, either. Her doubles partner, Nicolas Mahut, dressed in a women's Lacoste outfit (complete with fake breasts) just like Mladenovic's for an exhibition match between France and the USA. His ensemble wasn't all French, though--Bethanie Mattek-Sands supplied him with tube socks.

With Serbia out, Belgium will play the USA in the final. In the meantime, Ivanovic reports that she expects to be able to play in Melbourne.

(There was another incident this week worth mentioning, though it occurred in Brisbane. Jarmila Groth's coach was not with her, so Sam Groth, the ATP player who is also her husband, stepped in. The pair engaged in a loud, unprintable argument during a break in her match against Andrea Petkovic. Groth lost the match.)

Miscellany

Lagardere has signed Kristina Mladenovic as a client.

Venus Williams says she has learned to better manage her pain and has gotten rid of the "huge horrible strap." You can see a photographic retrospective of "Venus's Best Moments" here.

Klaudia Jans has successfully defended her master's thesis at the Academy of Physical Education and Sports of Gdańsk, in northern Poland. Jans wrote an analysis of the Jans/Rosolska vs. Morita/Sugiyama doubles rubber in the 2009 Fed Cup competition between Poland and Japan. Jans now has a master's degree in physical education.

Serena Williams has opened a second school in Matooni, Kenya.

James LaRosa makes a case for cheering for the player, not the country.

Miscellany

Justine Henin has won another exhibition match, this time in Cairo. She defeated Nadia Petrova 7-6, 6-2.

Melanie Oudin defeated Serena Williams 7-5 in an exhibition match in Athens, Georgia.

Naomi Broady has now won three ITF tournaments in three weeks.

Unseeded Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski upset top seed Kristina Mladenovic in the final of the 18s singles final of the 2009 Orange Bowl.

Virginia Ruano Pascual will play doubles with Sania Mirza at the Australian Open.

On the Baseline has an exclusive interview with Martina Hingis.

Top junior seed knocked out in first round of U.S. Open

The upsets on the women's side of the U.S. Open draw have spread to the junior level. This afternoon, the number 1 junior seed, Kristina Mladenovic of France, was upset in straight sets by Asia Muhammad. Muhammad, an unseeded American player, defeated Mladenovic 6-1, 6-4.

Number 2 seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn won her match against Sina Haas in straight sets.

Lertcheewakarn wins junior Wimbledon title

Last year, she lost to Laura Robson in a very high quality match, but this year, 4th seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn took the Wimbledon junior girls' title by defeating Kristina Mladenovic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Mladenovic, the top seed, was hoping to win consecutive majors; she won the junior title at the French Open last month.

After winning the first set, Mladenovic went up an early break in the second, but Lertcheewakarn broke back to make the score 2-all; she would go on to win that set. The 4th seed broke Mladenovic immediately in the third set, and went up 4-0. Mladenovic was able to win only one game in the final set.

Mladenovic hit more than four times as many winners as Lertcheewakarn, including eight aces. She also made twice as many unforced errors.

Lertcheewakarn and Mladenovic to play in Wimbledon junior final

Last year's finalist, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, will soon have another chance to claim the junior girls' Wimbledon title. Her opponent will be number 1 seed Kristina Mladenovic, who won the junior girls' French Open title.

In today's semifinals, 4th seed Lertcheewakarn defeated 6th seed Timea Babos 6-2, 6-0. Mladenovic defeated the unseeded Miyabi Inoue 6-1, 6-2.

Mladenovic defeated Sloane Stephens 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Mladenovic wins junior girls French Open title

The French have a winner! 9th seeded Kristina Mladenovic defeated Daria Gavrilova today, to win the junior girls French Open championship. Mladenovic, who lives in Boulogne Billancourt, won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

Mladenovic to face Gavrilova in junior French Open final

Kristina Mladenovic, the French 16-year-old who lost to Magdelena Rybarikova in the first round of the main draw, is now in the final to determine the French Open junior girls' champion. Her opponent will be the unseeded Daria Gavrilova of Russia, who upset fellow Russian and 3rd seed Ksenia Pervak in the semifinals. Mladenovic, who is seeded 9th, defeated American Sloan Stephens, who was the 15th seed.