The exhortations of the Parisian crowd were barely required yesterday as newly-installed local heroine Amelie Mauresmo comfortably disposed of American Tara Snyder 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the French Open.
It was Mauresmo's first competitive match on the centre court at Roland Garros and she could hardly have expected a more satisfactory opening to the French Open Tennis Championships.
Greeted by a rousing reception and enjoying another prolonged ovation in victory, Mauresmo has quickly endeared herself to the French public, perhaps as much for her honesty and affable nature as for her obvious talent. For a 19year-old she displayed tremendous courage earlier this year in openly discussing her lesbianism and also in the manner in which she dealt with the barbs regarding her muscled physique.
Tomorrow offers a chance of the perfect reply to one of her detractors. Martina Hingis used the phrase "half a man" when describing Mauresmo after beating the French woman in the Australian Open final in January. The unseeded Mauresmo now has the opportunity to get one over on the world number one when they meet in the second round.
The relationship between the two players is politely described as strained. "Well, since people are still taking about it (the comments made in Australia), it still exists," said Mauresmo.
"My motivation will be at maximum. Normally the best players don't play so good at the beginning of a tournament. They play better in the end, so I have my chance. I will be very motivated and pumped up."
Mauresmo arrived at Roland Garros recovering from a thigh strain and while she did not feel 100 per cent, there was no physical problems. "I have no pain whatsoever, but I can play better than that." She will have to in order to upset Hingis.
Hingis wasn't prepared to dole out platitudes after her facile 6-1, 6-4 victory over Holland's Amanda Hopmans. Broken in the opening game of the match, the Swiss teenager appeared lethargic, her sluggish footwork denying her an ideal hitting base. Unfortunately for Hopmans, she possessed neither the temperament or the conviction to seriously inconvenience her opponent.
Hingis was provided with the latitude to discover her rhythm and once this was accomplished the match took a familiar pattern, well almost, as to most observers' surprise the Swiss woman was a frequent visitor to the net. She explained: "I think it is important, especially against players like her. It would be too boring for me just to stay at the back, go cross-court backhand over and over.
"You make shorter points, enjoy it more, play little drop-shots her and there. She played even slower than I expected. You just have to pull through, get it over with."
Eight games in succession put Hingis in control and she could afford the small hiccup of a service break, striking back in the seventh game of the set, before closing out the match three games later.
The world number one was in bullish form when the topic of conversation strayed to tomorrow's opponent. "I played her twice this year, it's 1-1 so far. It's definitely going to be a good match. I expect a lot from it."
Hingis acknowledged that the crowd would be a factor. "It's going to be probably more like a soccer match," later pointing out that she would not be intimidated by the noise. "I love it, I can't play if there is no one watching."
