TENNIS: For years the French have despaired of Amelie Mauresmo. Time after time this hugely gifted and highly articulate player has built up her nation's hopes only to find herself consumed by nerves and scattered to the four winds like blossom in a spring squall.
Now, precisely seven years after she appeared in her first and only grand slam final here in what is now the Rod Laver Arena, she has the opportunity tomorrow against Justine Henin-Hardenne to rid herself of a small mountain of baggage.
Since, as a 19-year-old, she lost the 1999 Australian Open final against Martina Hingis, Mauresmo has played in a further 23 slams, reaching nine quarters and four semi-finals. Sometimes she has played well and lost, sometimes she has been so nervous she could barely hold her racket, and any number of what appear to be psychosomatic injuries have laid her low. The French public has rarely been hostile. When she rushed to the final here in only her eighth slam, a glittering career was forecast. Yet on the eve of her first final she was subject to cruel comments from Hingis and Lindsay Davenport.
The French teenager was bitterly hurt, and has never totally forgiven Hingis. Davenport apologised, claiming she had been misquoted, but it took a long time for Mauresmo to feel at ease. Finally, after years of frustration, she won the end-of-season Tour Championship in Los Angeles last year, beating her fellow Frenchwoman Mary Pierce 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, following a thrilling comeback.
Yesterday's passage into her second final was obviously not the way she would have ideally wanted, with Kim Clijsters having to retire in the third set when she fell and injured her right ankle.
The Belgian had entered the tournament under an injury shadow having hurt her hip in a warm-up tournament. However, Mauresmo was leading 5-7, 6-2, 3-2 before Clijsters fell, and will be encouraged at having turned the match around sufficiently to feel she has a chance tomorrow.
"If Amelie plays like she did in the second set and is aggressive from the start, then she has a good chance," said Clijsters. "But I still think Justine is going to be the favourite."
Henin beat Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 with both semi-finals played under the roof. Since winning the Wimbledon title in 2004, Sharapova has reached a further four semi-finals, but her game currently lacks the variety to take her further. She was less happy, however, with the continuing focus on her glamorous looks and was indignant at the attention on her 'grunting'.
Reacting to a straightforward question following her defeat, Sharapova came out with a diatribe aimed at what she considered out-of-order coverage of the women's game. "Talk about the disappointment? Yeah, it's disappointing," she said.
"Look, guys, I know you are reporters and I know this is your job, but take your notepads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put everything away and just watch the match from the fans' perspective," she said.
Guardian Service
