This week has been highly successful for the Australian Grand Slam champion Stosur, whose match wins this season had been few and far between prior to the International-level event in Strasbourg. Last month's reunion with her coach David Taylor is already bearing fruit and after yesterday's three-setter against Ajla Tomljanovic, Stosur pulled off another three-set victory, over Sloane Stephens in the semis, 6-3 3-6 6-0.
Mladenovic's route to the final was bitter sweet. The Frenchwoman is happy that she's reached the first title match of her career, but her last two victories came on the expense of her opponents' misfortunes: in Thursday's quarterfinals top seed Madison Keys withdrew from the tournament with an elbow injury, while in Friday's semis Mladenoviic's good friend Virginie Razzano retired during the second set, due to an abdominal muscle injury.