Amélie Mauresmo
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Template:Infobox Tennis player
| Image:Olympic-rings.png | |
| Silver medal | Tennis Women's singles 2004 |
Amélie Mauresmo (born on 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is the current women's World No. 1.
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). She is also known as one of the few players to reach the top spot 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.
Before 2006, Mauresmo was considered the best player on the Women's Tennis Association tour not yet to have claimed a Grand Slam singles title. As a result of her victory in the 2006 Australian Open, there is now no women's singles World No. 1 player, past or present, without a Grand Slam championship.
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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 decided 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 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.
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.
It was after her surprise upset of Davenport at the semi-finals of the 1999 Australian Open that Mauresmo came out as a lesbian to the international press. Unlike Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in an earlier era, Mauresmo experienced neither public fallout nor loss of any lucrative commercial endorsements from her sponsors. She has since spoken of the trauma she experienced from controversy in the press over her sexuality and powerful athleticism, and the comments of other players. However, she received tremendous support from the French public. Sports companies such as Nike and Dunlop continued to sponsor and use her in many of their commercials.
Climb to the top
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, her most important win to that point of her career. In the final, she rebounded from a first-set loss to defeat countrywoman Mary Pierce (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) (this was a redux of their earlier Round Robin encounter, which Pierce had won 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
At the 2006 Australian Open, Mauresmo finally captured her first Grand Slam singles title by defeating both Belgian former World No. 1 players, Kim Clijsters, and Justine Henin-Hardenne, in the semi-final and final respectively, due to both of her opponents retiring with injury or illness. To Mauresmo's credit she was leading, and controlling the tempo and flow of both matches, before her opponents retired.
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).
Mauresmo has been quoted in the media responding as follows: "Getting back to No.1 is a wonderful feeling. I've had some great results in the past few months, from winning the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships to the Australian Open. There have been a lot of memorable moments for me recently, and being No.1 again is another one."
As of late March 2006, Mauresmo has 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 defeated Maria Sharapova in the finals in straight sets.
Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2006 | Australian Open | Justine Henin-Hardenne | 6-1, 2-0 retired |
Runner-ups (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1999 | Australian Open | Martina Hingis | 2-6, 3-6 |
Titles (23)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (1) |
| WTA Championships (1) |
| Tier I Event (6) |
| WTA Tour (14) |
Singles (22)
| 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) | 7-6 6-4 |
| 3. | Feb 5, 2001 | Paris, France | Hard | Anke Huber (Germany) | 7-6 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 7-6 |
| 8. | Aug 12, 2002 | Montreal, Canada | Hard | Jennifer Capriati (USA) | 6-4 6-1 |
| 9. | Apr 28, 2003 | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Venus Williams (USA) | 6-7 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) | w/o |
| 12. | May 10, 2004 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Jennifer Capriati (USA) | 3-6 6-3 7-6 |
| 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 | Hard | 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 7-6 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 7-6(2) |
| 22. | Feb 19, 2006 | Antwerp, Belgium | Hard | Kim Clijsters (Belgium) | 3-6 6-3 6-3 |
Singles Finalist (18)
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Performance timeline
| Tournament | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | W | QF | QF | - | QF | 4r | 2r | F | 3r | - | - | - | 1 |
| French Open | 3r | QF | QF | 4r | 1r | 4r | 2r | 1r | 2r | 2r | 1r | 0 | |
| Wimbledon | SF | SF | - | SF | 3r | 1r | - | 2r | - | - | - | 0 | |
| U.S. Open | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | - | 4r | 3r | - | - | - | 0 | |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 7-0 | 15-4 | 17-3 | 8-2 | 17-4 | 9-4 | 4-3 | 10-3 | 5-4 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 94-30 |
| WTA Tour Championships | W | SF | F | - | 4r | - | 4r | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
| Tokyo | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Indian Wells | - | 3r | - | QF | - | - | 2r | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Miami | SF | SF | - | 4r | - | - | - | 3r | 2r | - | - | - | 0 |
| Charleston | - | - | - | - | 2r | QF | - | 2r | 1r | - | - | - | 0 |
| Berlin | QF | W | SF | QF | W | 2r | 3r | F | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Rome | W | W | F | QF | F | F | SF | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| San Diego | - | 2r | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| Montreal/Toronto | SF | W | QF | W | 3r | - | - | 1r | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Moscow | 2r | - | F | SF | 2r | SF | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| Zurich | 2r | - | 2r | - | - | - | - | 2r | - | - | - | 0 |
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).
Doubles (1)
- 2000: Linz (w/Chanda Rubin)
Doubles Finalist
- 2005: Wimbledon (w/Svetlana Kuznetsova)
Other
- French Fed Cup Team 1998-99, 2001-05.
- French Olympic Team 2000, 2004
External links
- Official website
- Template:Wta
- Fed Cup record
- Amélie Mauresmo - The Fanpage (hosting a large fan-forum)
Template:Start box Template:Succession box Template:Succession box
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