DOMINIC THIEM is looking for a first grand slam title as he faces Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
But the Austrian will have to do it without the presence of fellow tennis star Kristina Mladenovic, who he broke up with last year.
Who is Kristina Mladenovic?
The French beauty was born May 14, 1993.
Her parents are both of Serbian origin, with the couple moving to France a year before Kristina was born.
Her father Dragan is a former handball player and won Olympic gold for Yugoslavia, while her mother Dzenita used to play volleyball competitively.
Kristina Mladenovic currently resides in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Is she also a tennis star?
Mladenovic is currently ranked as number one in the world as a doubles player, having won the French Open this years and the Australian Open in 2018 with Timea Babos.
She has also reached the US Open final in the past, while retaining her WTA Finals Doubles title with her Hungarian partner in November.
The Frenchwoman does play singles, albeit not as successfully, currently being ranked at number 39 – with a quarter-final berth her best finish in Grand Slams.
When did Kristina Mladenovic and Dominic Thiem start dating?
The couple began dating midway through 2017 and have enjoyed spending time together in the midst of their busy schedules.
Their love story has previously been revealed to have started during Thiem’s run to the finals at the French Open 2018, when Mladenovic was in the Austrian’s box for each of his games.
Trips on holiday have been sparse – but have often showed their affection for each other on social media.
Why did Thiem and Mladenovic break up?
Thiem and Mladenovic confirmed their break-up in November 2019, and deleted all their photos together from Instagram.
Thiem and Mladenovic have been reluctant to speak publicly about their break-up, but it is understood that a heavy schedule and touring in different cities took its toll, according to essentiallysports.com.
And speaking to Tennis World USA, Thiem’s mother Karin was similarly reluctant to talk about the situation.
She said: “I really loved Kiki [Mladenovic] really as a person and a tennis player, she is working very hard and focused on her career.
“But as you know they are grown up, so it is not my right to speak about it.”
