What’s going on with Kristina Mladenovic?

“My progression has been steady and that’s what I like about my path. For a lot of girls, there’s a quick rise, than a drop, then they rise again, get to the top 10 and fall down again. Eugenie Bouchard is the most prominent example. Or my best friend on tour, Belinda Bencic; injuries have caught up to her. Garbiñe Muguruza also is struggling since her win at Roland-Garros.

“I’m progressing slowly, but I haven’t had any lows. I want to build something solid.”

These were the words of Kristina Mladenovic, translated from an interview she did in early May with French newspaper L’Équipe.

She’s probably wishing she could take them back now.

Wang 6-0, 6-0 Mladenovic

Maybe Mladenovic should do one of those 'take the rest of the year off' things.

— DavidLaw (@DavidLawTennis) September 18, 2017

Bouchard, Bencic, Muguruza and many others will have noted the Frenchwoman’s almighty slump of late, losing her last seven matches on the trot – all in straight sets.

Muguruza may well have noted this the most keenly; since their acrimonious match at Roland Garros, which Mladenovic won in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals, Muguruza won Wimbledon and rose to world No.1.

RELATED: Muguruza, Mladenovic traversing different paths

Mladenovic, meanwhile, looks a shadow of the player who reached four WTA finals in the first half of the season and who at one stage sat in a top-five position in the WTA Race to Singapore.

this is the 2nd 0-6 0-6 of Mladenovic's career.

the 1st one was in Bari, ITF 25K (2009), vs Dulgheru.

— Diego Barbiani (@Diego_Barbiani) September 18, 2017

Her latest loss was the most embarrassing – a double-bagel defeat to China’s Wang Qiang in the first round in Tokyo, a match lasting just 48 minutes.

Mladenovic says she sustained a knee ligament injury at Wimbledon but said she was “in good shape” physically at the US Open after her first-round loss to Monica Niculescu.

And since Wimbledon, she’s entered seven tournaments, hardly an approach indicative of an injured player.

Wow????Kiki Mladenovic lost 12-0 in Tokyo 1st rd 2 Qiang Wang now has lost 7 straight matches and 14 sets on the trot,after starting year 38-15

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) September 18, 2017

Several theories are circulating as to what is behind her form slump.

The Wimbledon injury could have derailed her momentum. She may have suffered a let-down after her emotionally-charged run on home soil at Roland Garros. She could be fatigued – even burned out – after a heavy playing schedule already comprising 22 singles events and 13 in doubles, as well as Fed Cup. And the year is hardly over.

But one wonders if there has been some backlash from her WTA contemporaries due to her propensity to openly air her opinions of them in the media.

There was an ugly, public split with doubles partner, countrywoman Caroline Garcia, which she detailed in a column for Sport360. That followed her pointed comments regarding a Fed Cup teammate who didn’t wish to represent France; while many assumed she was referring to Garcia, Mladenovic said she was actually talking about Oceane Dodin.

There were her comments on Maria Sharapova’s return to competition following a doping ban. There were her digs at Bouchard and Muguruza, in the quotes above.

While hardly concrete evidence, it’s been interesting to note the number of doubles partners Mladenovic has cycled through in 2017. Partners chop and change all the time, yet Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Mladenovic’s most recent teammate, is her fourth of the year.

It’s in stark contrast to 2016 and 2015, where she played almost solely with Garcia and Timea Babos respectively.

Also noteworthy is how few photos she has recently posted on her social media channels with fellow players. In the first half of the season, these made up a fair portion of her image posts on Twitter and Instagram.

Yet since the French Open, she’s posted just one photo with another player – Yanina Wickmayer, at the Belgian’s wedding. The rest of the images have featured just herself (except for one, alongside her brother).

Mladenovic is still ranked a fairly impressive 15th and has time to salvage her season.

But she may now be more wary when she fronts up for her next press conference or interview. As her quotes from May demonstrate, things can unravel very quickly.