Amélie Mauresmo

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**Amélie Mauresmo**

Country	France
Residence	Geneva, Switzerland
Date of birth	July 05, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8.5 in)
Weight	69 kg (152 lb)
Turned Pro	1994
Plays	Right; One-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	$13,002,482
Singles
Career record:	458-179
Career titles:	23 (2 ITF)
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (September 13, 2004)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (2006)
French Open	QF (2003, 2004)
Wimbledon	W (2006)
U.S. Open	SF (2002, 2006)
Doubles
Career record:	77-52
Career titles:	2 (2 ITF)
Highest ranking:	No. 29 (June 26, 2006)
Infobox last updated on: November 13, 2006.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Silver	2004 Athens	Singles

Amélie Simone Mauresmo (born on 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player and is a former World No. 1. She is currently the third ranked player in the world. She has won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 2006 Australian Open and 2006 Wimbledon.

Mauresmo first attained the top ranking on September 13, 2004, holding it for five weeks on that occasion. She was the fourteenth World No. 1 in women's tennis since the computer rankings began. She is well known for her powerful one-handed backhand (a rarity in women's tennis) and her strong net play. She is coached by Loic Courteau.

[edit] Biography and career

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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. Before the final, Hingis called Mauresmo "half a man." Though she lost the final to Hingis, Mauresmo 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 semifinal in 1999 that Mauresmo, 19 at the time, came out as a lesbian to the international press.

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

[edit] 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 on 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, Mauresmo 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 a ranking in the top five ever since.

[edit] 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, 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, Mauresmo earned a spot in the semifinals where she defeated the defending champion, Russian Maria Sharapova, in straight sets (7-6, 6-3).

[edit] 2006

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. Both opponents retired from their respective matches, Clijsters with a right ankle sprain in the third set of their semifinal and Henin-Hardenne from gastroenteritis in the final. Mauresmo was leading in both matches — by 6-1, 2-0 against Henin-Hardenne.

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, Mauresmo defeated Martina Hingis in a semifinal by 6-2, 6-2 but lost to Nadia Petrova in the final 6-3, 7-5. Had she won the final, she would have immediately regained the No. 1 ranking from Clijsters. Nonetheless, the outcome was sufficient to ensure Mauresmo's return to the No. 1 ranking on March 20, 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 included a 16-match winning streak that began at the Australian Open and ended in the Dubai tournament.

Mauresmo reached the semifinals 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.

Mauresmo 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). Mauresmo defeated Maria Sharapova in a semifinal 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 was Mauresmo's 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.

Mauresmo withdrew from 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.

At the 2006 US Open, Mauresmo lost to Maria Sharapova in a semifinal 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. It was the first time in the open era that a female semifinalist here lost two sets at love.[1]

Mauresmo then reached the final of the China Open, succumbing to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-0. During the tournament, Mauresmo won 137 ranking points to help preserve her World No. 1 ranking and ended a nine match losing streak to Davenport. The last time Mauresmo had defeated Davenport was in Sydney in January 2000.

[edit] Performance at Grand Slam events

Although Mauresmo has been one of the top players for several years, she did not have success in winning Grand Slam events until 2006. Her talents were 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." After winning the 2006 Wimbledon title, Mauresmo openly joked, "I don’t want anyone to talk about my nerves any more." [2]"\

Mauresmo 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 reached no. 1 in 1998 and never won a Grand Slam title.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] 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

[edit] Runner-ups (1)

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

[edit] WTA Tour Championships singles finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Venue	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2005	Los Angeles	Mary Pierce	5-7, 7-6, 6-4

[edit] Runner-ups (2)

Year	Venue	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2003	Los Angeles	Kim Clijsters	6-2, 6-0
2006	Madrid	Justine Henin-Hardenne	6-4, 6-3

[edit] Other finals

[edit] Singles wins (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)	7-6(2), 6-4
3.	Feb 5, 2001	Paris, France	Carpet	Anke Huber (Germany)	7-6(2), 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(3)
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), 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, 7-6(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	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, 7-6(3), 6-4
20.	Jan 28, 2006	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium)	6-1, 2-0 retired (stomach)
21.	Feb 12, 2006	Paris, France	Carpet	Mary Pierce (France)	6-1, 7-6(2)
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

[edit] Singles runner-ups (20)

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)
2006: Beijing (lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova)
2006: WTA Tour Championships (lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne)

[edit] Doubles wins (2)

2000: Linz (w/Chanda Rubin)
2006: Eastbourne (w/Svetlana Kuznetsova)

[edit] Doubles runner-up

2005: Wimbledon (w/Svetlana Kuznetsova)

[edit] Other

French Fed Cup Team 1998-99, 2001-05.
French Olympic Team 2000, 2004

[edit] Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the WTA Tour Championships, which ended on November 12, 2006.

Tournament	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Career SR	Career Win-Loss
Australian Open	A	A	A	3R	F	2R	4R	QF	A	QF	QF	W		1 / 8	31-7
French Open	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	4R	1R	4R	QF	QF	3R	4R		0 / 12	22-12
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	3R	SF	A	SF	SF	W		1 / 7	25-6
U.S. Open	A	A	A	3R	4R	A	QF	SF	QF	QF	QF	SF		0 / 8	31-8
Grand Slam SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	2 / 4	0 / 0	2 / 35	N/A
Grand Slam Win-Loss	0-1	1-1	1-1	5-4	10-3	4-3	9-4	17-4	8-2	17-4	15-4	22-2	0-0	N/A	109-33
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	4R	A	4R	A	F	SF	W	F		1 / 6	12-9
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0 / 0	0-0
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	QF	A	3R	A		0 / 3	4-2
Miami	A	A	A	2R	3R	A	A	A	4R	A	SF	SF		0 / 5	12-5
Charleston	A	A	LQ	1R	2R	A	QF	2R	A	A	A	A		0 / 5	4-5
Berlin	A	A	A	F	3R	2R	W	QF	SF	W	QF	SF		2 / 9	29-6
Rome	A	A	A	LQ	SF	F	F	QF	F	W	W	A		2 / 8	29-6
San Diego¹	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A		0 / 2	0-2
Montreal/Toronto	A	A	A	1R	A	A	3R	W	QF	W	SF	A		2 / 6	16-4
Moscow	A	A	A	A	A	SF	2R	SF	F	A	2R	QF		0 / 6	9-6
Zurich	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	2R	A	2R	QF		0 / 4	2-3
Tournaments played	1	4	15	21	16	14	16	17	17	17	19	17	0	N/A	174
Finals reached	0	0	0	1	3	3	5	2	6	9	7	7	0	N/A	43
Tournaments Won	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	2	2	5	4	4	0	N/A	23
Hardcourt Win-Loss	0-0	1-1	5-3	16-8	21-8	5-4	15-6	25-5	23-10	34-6	32-10	24-7	0-0	N/A	201-68
Clay Win-Loss	3-1	1-1	5-7	12-7	7-4	13-4	15-3	7-4	15-3	18-3	9-2	6-2	0-0	N/A	111-41
Grass Win-Loss	0-0	1-1	2-2	1-2	0-0	0-1	2-1	7-2	1-1	7-2	5-2	7-1	0-0	N/A	33-15
Carpet Win-Loss	0-0	0-1	5-3	2-4	6-3	6-4	10-1	6-3	6-2	0-0	7-2	13-3	0-0	N/A	61-26
Overall Win-Loss	3-1	3-4	17-15	31-21	34-15	24-13	42-11	45-14	45-16	59-11	53-16	50-13	0-0	N/A	406-150²
Year End Ranking	290	159	109	29	10	16	9	6	4	2	3	3		N/A	N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

LQ = lost in the qualifying tournament.

¹ The San Diego tournament achieved Tier I status in 2004.

² 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 458-179.

[edit] WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Majors	WTA wins	Total wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1998	0	0	0	187,084	39
1999	0	1	1	582,468	13
2000	0	1	1	365,074	24
2001	0	4	4	867,702	11
2002	0	2	2	1,073,807	9
2003	0	2	2	1,632,909	5
2004	0	5	5	1,964,070	6
2005	0	4	4	2,843,708	2
2006	2	2	4	3,469,727	2
2007
Career	2	21	23	13,002,482	11

[edit] External links

Wikinews has news related to:

Amélie Mauresmo wins Australian Open

Preceded by Justine Henin-Hardenne Kim Clijsters	World No. 1 September 13, 2004 - October 17, 2004 March 20, 2006 - November 12, 2006	Succeeded by Lindsay Davenport Justine Henin-Hardenne

Australian Open women's singles champions*

Wimbledon women's singles champions*

Women's Tennis Association \| Top ten female tennis players as of November 20, 2006
1. Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) \| 2. Maria Sharapova (Russia) \| 3. Amélie Mauresmo (France) \| 4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) \| 5. Kim Clijsters (Belgium) \| 6. Nadia Petrova (Russia) \| 7. Martina Hingis (Switzerland) \| 8. Elena Dementieva (Russia) \| 9. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) \| 10. Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic)

Women's Tennis Association \| World No. 1's in Women's tennis
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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