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Amélie Mauresmo

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| residence = Geneva, Switzerland | datebirth = 5 July, 1979 | placebirth = Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France | height = 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | weight = 69 kg (152 lb) | turnedpro = 1994 | retired = Active | plays = Right | careerprizemoney = $11,983,895 | singlesrecord = 444-173 | singlestitles = 23 | highestsinglesranking = No. 1 (September 13, 2004) | AustralianOpenresult = W (2006) | FrenchOpenresult = QF (2003, 2004) | Wimbledonresult = W (2006) | USOpenresult = SF (2002) | doublesrecord = 76-51 | doublestitles = 2 | highestdoublesranking = No. 29 (June 26, 2006) | updated = July 10, 2006 | }}

Amélie Simone Mauresmo (born on 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is the current women's World No. 1 and has won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 2006 Australian Open and the 2006 Wimbledon.

Mauresmo first attained the top ranking on 13 September 2004, holding it for five weeks on that occasion. She was the 14th World No. 1 in women's tennis. She is well-known for her powerful one-handed backhand (a rarity in women's tennis).

Contents

Biography and career

Early career

Amélie Mauresmo was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Inspired by watching Yannick Noah win the 1983 French Open on television, Mauresmo began to play tennis at the age of 4.

In 1996, Mauresmo captured both the Junior French Open and Wimbledon titles; she was named 1996 Junior World Champion by the International Tennis Federation.

Breakthrough and controversy

In 1999, the then unseeded Mauresmo reached the Australian Open final with wins over three seeds (including world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport), before falling to world No. 2 Martina Hingis, who after the final infamously called Mauresmo, who is a lesbian, "half a man." Though she lost in the final to Hingis, she soundly defeated Hingis later in the year, en route to the final of the Paris [Indoors] event.

It was after her surprise upset of Davenport in their Australian Open semi-final that Mauresmo came out as a lesbian to the international press.

Mauresmo was only the second Frenchwoman to reach the Australian Open final dating back to 1922 (Mary Pierce won it in 1995) and third Frenchwoman to reach any Grand Slam final in the Open Era.

Climb to the top

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Mauresmo rapidly climbed into the top ten in WTA rankings, and began to win significant events on the women's tour.

In 2003, she was the leading player in a team that captured the Fed Cup for France. She has won more Fed Cup singles matches than any other French player.

Mauresmo captured a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where she was defeated by Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne in the women's singles final.

On September 13 2004 she became the first French tennis player to become number one since computer rankings began in the 1970s. She held that ranking for five weeks, and has maintained rankings in the top five ever since.

2005 Tour Championships

In 2005 she claimed her first WTA Tour Championships, rebounding from a first-set loss to defeat countrywoman Mary Pierce (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) and avenge an earlier round-robin loss to Pierce in three sets. In round-robin play Mauresmo defeated Elena Dementieva (6-2 and 6-3) and #2 seed Kim Clijsters (6-3, 7-6), suffering her only loss at the hands of Pierce (6-2, 4-6, 2-6). By finishing in second place in the Black Group behind Pierce, she earned a spot in the semifinals where she outclassed the defending champion, Russian Maria Sharapova in straight sets (7-6, 6-3).

2006

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Amélie Mauresmo at Wimbledon 2006
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Amélie Mauresmo at Wimbledon 2006

At the 2006 Australian Open, Mauresmo captured her first Grand Slam singles title, defeating Belgian former world number one players Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne en route. Curiously, both opponents retired from their respective matches, Clijsters with a right ankle sprain third set in the semis and Henin-Hardenne from gastrointeritus in the final. To Mauresmo's credit she was leading in both matches &mdash by 6-1, 2-0 against Henin-Hardenne. After claiming the title, Mauresmo subdued her victory celebration in deference to her opponent's illness.

Mauresmo then won her next two tournaments, the Paris Indoor (defeating Pierce in the final) and the Proximus Diamond Games, in Antwerp (winning the final against Clijsters).

In the Qatar Total Open, she defeated Martina Hingis in the semi-final by 6-2, 6-2, but lost to Nadia Petrova in the final 3-6, 5-7. Had she won the final, she would not only have captured another title, but also immediately regained the No.1 ranking from Kim Clijsters. Nonetheless, the outcome was sufficient to ensure that Mauresmo would return to the No. 1 ranking on 20 March 2006. This reflected the fact that neither Mauresmo nor Clijsters participated in the 2006 Indian Wells tournament. Thus neither defended her ranking points from the 2005 tournament (which Clijsters won).

As of late March 2006, Mauresmo had won a Tour-leading three tournaments in the season, with wins in 19 of her 22 matches. This includes a 16-match winning streak that began at the Australian Open and ended in the Dubai tournament.

Mauresmo reached the semi-finals of the Nasdaq Open 2006, where she lost to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who later straight-setted Russian Maria Sharapova in the final.

Though now a grand slam champion and reigning world number one, Mauresmo once again fell victim under the weight of national expectation at the French Open, succumbing to Czech teen Nicole Vaidišová 6-7(5-7) 6-1 6-2 in the fourth round in front of a packed Court Philippe Chatrier crowd.

Mauresmo has long struggled at her nation's major. She has never made it beyond the quarters at Roland Garros in 12 career appearances, having done so at least once at every other Grand Slam. Additionally, she has reached that round only twice, falling in straight sets both times.

She was the top seed at The Championships, Wimbledon, despite a first-round loss at the warm-up Eastbourne event (though she and Kuznetsova won the doubles title, their first as a team and Mauresmo's second overall). She defeated Maria Sharapova in a semi-final match, then came back from a first set blowout to defeat Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The victory handed Mauresmo her second Grand Slam singles title and first overall on grass.

She then pulled out of the Fed Cup World Group I playoff tie against the Czech Republic due to a groin injury sustained during Wimbledon. She was replaced by Severine Bremond.

Performance at Grand Slam events

Although Mauresmo has been one of the top players for many years, she did not have success in winning Grand Slam events. Her talents was never questioned, but Mauresmo was criticized for her mental strength after succumbing to nerves in Grand Slams. In consecutive Wimbledon championships, she lost to Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport after leading comfortably. Before her 2006 Australian win, Mauresmo was often touted as "the greatest women's player never to win a Grand Slam".

Her first Grand Slam title, the 2006 Australian Open victory, was seen to many as a hollow victory. On the way to winning the title, 3 of her opponents retired, including Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final. However her critics were silenced when, as the number one seed, she won the 2006 Wimbledon title. Mauresmo openly joked, "I don’t want anyone to talk about my nerves any more [link]"

She is one of the few tennis players, male or female, to have reached the top ranking without first winning a Grand Slam singles event. Other notable players who did so were Belgian Kim Clijsters, who ascended to the top spot in 2003, two years before winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2005 US Open, and Ivan Lendl, who first reached number 1 in 1983, before winning any of his eight Grand Slam singles titles.

As a result of her victory in the 2006 Australian Open, there is no women's singles World No. 1 player, past or present, without a Grand Slam championship. In the men's singles, Marcelo Rios of Chile has reached no. 1 in 1998 and never won a Grand Slam title.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (2)

'''Year '''Championship '''Opponent in Final '''Score in Final
2006 Australian Open Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-1, 2-0 retired
2006 Wimbledon Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Runner-ups (1)

'''Year '''Championship '''Opponent in Final '''Score in Final
1999 Australian Open Martina Hingis 2-6, 3-6

Titles (25)

Singles (23)

Legend
Grand Slam (2)
WTA Championships (1)
Tier I Event (6)
WTA Tour (14)
Titles by Surface
Hard (11)
Clay (6)
Grass (1)
Carpet (5)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. Oct 18, 1999 Bratislava, Slovakia Hard Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 6-3 6-3
2. Jan 11, 2000 Sydney, Australia Hard Lindsay Davenport (USA) 7-62 6-4
3. Feb 5, 2001 Paris, France Carpet Anke Huber (Germany) 7-62 6-1
4. Feb 12, 2001 Nice, France Carpet Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-2 6-0
5. Apr 9, 2001 Amelia Island, USA Clay Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) 6-4 7-5
6. May 7, 2001 Berlin, Germany Clay Jennifer Capriati (USA) 6-4 2-6 6-3
7. Feb 18, 2002 Dubai, UAE Hard Sandrine Testud (France) 6-4 7-63
8. Aug 12, 2002 Montreal, Canada Hard Jennifer Capriati (USA) 6-4 6-1
9. Apr 28, 2003 Warsaw, Poland Clay Venus Williams (USA) 6-76 6-0 3-0 retired
10. Oct 27, 2003 Philadelphia, USA Hard Anastasia Myskina (Russia) 5-7 6-0 6-2
11. May 3, 2004 Berlin, Germany Clay Venus Williams (USA) walkover
12. May 10, 2004 Rome, Italy Clay Jennifer Capriati (USA) 3-6 6-3 7-66
13. Aug 2, 2004 Montreal, Canada Hard Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) 6-1 6-0
14. Oct 18, 2004 Linz, Austria Hard Elena Bovina (Russia) 6-2 6-0
15. Oct 25, 2004 Philadelphia, USA Hard Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 3-6 6-2 6-2
16. Feb 14, 2005 Antwerp, Belgium Carpet Venus Williams (USA) 4-6 7-5 6-4
17. May 9, 2005 Rome, Italy Clay Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 2-6 6-3 6-4
18. Oct 31, 2005 Philadelphia, USA Hard Elena Dementieva (Russia) 7-5 2-6 7-5
19. Nov 13, 2005 WTA Championships, Los Angeles, USA Hard Mary Pierce (France) 5-7 7-63 6-4
20. Jan 28, 2006 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 6-1 2-0 retired
21. Feb 12, 2006 Paris, France Carpet Mary Pierce (France) 6-1 7-62
22. Feb 19, 2006 Antwerp, Belgium Carpet Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 3-6 6-3 6-3
23. Jul 8, 2006 Wimbledon, London, England Grass Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 2-6 6-3 6-4

Singles Finalist (18)

  • 1998: Berlin (lost to Conchita Martinez)
  • 1999: Australian Open (lost to Martina Hingis)
  • 1999: Paris (lost to Serena Williams)
  • 2000: Bol (lost to Tina Pisnik)
  • 2000: Rome (lost to Monica Seles)
  • 2001: Rome (lost to Jelena Dokic)
  • 2003: Paris (lost to Serena Williams)
  • 2003: Rome (lost to Kim Clijsters)
  • 2003: Moscow (lost to Anastasia Myskina)
  • 2003: WTA Tour Championships (lost to Kim Clijsters)
  • 2004: Sydney (lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne)
  • 2004: Amelia Island (lost to Lindsay Davenport)
  • 2004: The Olympics (lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne)
  • 2004: Filderstadt (lost to Lindsay Davenport)
  • 2005: Paris (lost to Dinara Safina)
  • 2005: New Haven (lost to Lindsay Davenport)
  • 2005: Filderstadt (lost to Lindsay Davenport)
  • 2006: Doha (lost to Nadia Petrova)

Performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only when a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.
Tournament 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 Career

Australian Open W QF QF align="center"
QF 4r 2r F 3r align="center"
align="center"
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1

French Open 4r 3r QF QF 4r 1r 4r 2r 1r 2r 2r 1r 0

Wimbledon W SF SF align="center"
SF 3r 1r align="center"
2r align="center"
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1

U.S. Open QF QF QF SF QF align="center"
4r 3r align="center"
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0

Grand Slam Win-Loss 17-1 15-4 17-3 8-2 17-4 9-4 4-3 10-3 5-4 1-1 1-1 0-1 104-31

WTA Tour Championships W SF F align="center"
4r align="center"
4r align="center"
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1

Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo align="center"
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0

Indian Wells Masters align="center"
3r align="center"
QF align="center"
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2r align="center"
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0

Miami Masters SF SF align="center"
4r align="center"
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3r 2r align="center"
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0

Family Circle Cup, Charleston align="center"
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2r QF align="center"
2r 1r align="center"
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0

Qatar Telecom German Open, Berlin SF QF W SF QF W 2r 3r F align="center"
align="center"
align="center"
2

Rome Masters align="center"
W W F QF F F SF align="center"
align="center"
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2

Acura Classic, San Diego align="center"
2r align="center"
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0

Canada Masters SF W QF W 3r align="center"
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1r align="center"
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2

Kremlin Cup, Moscow 2r align="center"
F SF 2r SF align="center"
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0

Zurich Open 2r align="center"
2r align="center"
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2r align="center"
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0

Tournaments played 11 19 17 17 17 16 14 16 21 15 4 1 168

Finals reached 5 7 9 6 2 5 3 3 1 0 0 0 40

Tournaments Won '''4 '''4 '''5 '''2 '''2 '''4 '''1 '''1 '''0 '''0 '''0 '''0 '''23

Hardcourt Win-Loss 11-2 32-10 34-6 23-10 25-5 15-6 5-4 21-8 16-8 5-3 1-1 align="center"
188-63

Clay Win-Loss 6-2 9-2 18-3 15-3 7-4 15-3 13-4 7-4 12-7 5-7 1-1 3-1 111-41

Grass Win-Loss 7-1 5-2 7-2 1-1 7-2 2-1 0-1 align="center"
1-2 2-2 1-1 align="center"
33-15

Carpet Win-Loss 12-2 7-2 align="center"
6-2 6-3 10-1 6-4 6-3 2-4 5-3 0-1 align="center"
60-25

Overall Win-Loss '''36-7 '''53-16 '''59-11 '''45-16 '''45-14 '''42-11 '''24-13 '''34-15 '''31-21 '''17-15 '''3-4 '''3-1 392-1441

Year End Ranking '''3 '''2 '''4 '''6 '''9 '''16 '''10 '''29 '''109 '''159 '''290 '''N/A

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).
1 If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 9-12; Clay: 7-6; Grass: 8-2; Carpet: 5-4) and Fed Cup (23-5) participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 444-173.

Doubles (2)

Doubles Finalist

Other

External links

Wikinews has news related to:

|- style="text-align: center;"


{| class="toccolours" style="margin: 0 2em 0 2em;" ! style="background:#ccccff" align="center" width="100%" |Women's Tennis Association | '''World No. 1's in Women's tennis |- | align="center" style="font-size: 95%;" colspan="2" | Tracy Austin | Jennifer Capriati | Kim Clijsters | Lindsay Davenport | Chris Evert | Steffi Graf | Justine Henin-Hardenne | Martina Hingis | Amélie Mauresmo | Martina Navrátilová | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Monica Seles | Maria Sharapova | Serena Williams | Venus Williams |-|

 

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