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Amelie Mauresmo Profile |
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Birth Date: July 5, 1979
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Birth Place: Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
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Birth Name: Amélie Simone Mauresmo
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Height: 5'9"
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Biography |
Amélie Mauresmo 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).
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.
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 before 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.
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.
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).
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
gastroenteritis in the final. To Mauresmo's credit she was
leading in both matches — 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's 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 title 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.
Amelie had to pull out of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. She
then participated in the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament,
defeating Galina Voskoboeva in three sets in the round of
16. She was then defeated by the number 8 seed and tenth
ranked, Lindsay Davenport 6-4 7-5.
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 by 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"
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.
Amelie Mauresmo came out as a lesbian at the Australian Open
in January 1999 at age 19. After a very successful
Australian Open, beating top-ranked Lindsay Davenport,
Mauresmo lept into the arms of her then girlfriend and
announced that her success had to do with finding love and
coming to terms with her sexuality. |
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Other
Information |
French tennis player. Currently world number 2 in the WTA
rankings (August 2004).
Became world number one in the WTA rankings after the US
Open 2004.
Has her look-alike puppet in the French show "Guignols de
l'info, Les" (1988).
She won the 2006 Australian Open grand slam tournament. Her
opponent in the final, Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium,
retired when down 1-6 0-2 (0-30) due to a stomach illness.
Won the 2005 Wimbledon championship as well beating her
opponent Justine Henin Hardenne 2/6 6/2 6/3. |
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