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Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo (born on 5 July 1979) is a French
professional tennis player. She is well-known for her powerful one-handed
backhand (a rarity in women's tennis). She was the 14th World No. 1 in women's
tennis.
Biography
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, she 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 No. 2 Martina Hingis; she 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. She lost in the final to Hingis but later in the year, soundly defeated
her en route to the final of the Paris [Indoors] event.
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 the comings-out of players like Billie Jean King and Martina
Navratilova, Mauresmo experienced neither public fallout nor loss of any
lucrative commercial endorsements from her sponsors; she received tremendous
support from the French public, and sports companies Nike and Dunlop continue
to sponsor and use her in many of their commercials.
After losing to Hingis in the final, Hingis remarked her
as "half a man" referring her being a lesbian.
In 2003, Mauresmo 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.
At the 2005 WTA Tour Championships she claimed her most prestigous
title to date, rebounding from a first-set loss to defeat countrywoman Mary
Pierce (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) in the championship match, in a redux of their Round
Robin encounter, which Pierce won in three sets. In round-robin play she
defeated Elena Dementieva (6-2 and 6-3) and #2 seed Kim Clijsters (6-3 and
7-6), suffering her only loss at the hands of Mary Pierce (6-2, 4-6 and 2-6).
By finishing in second place in the Black Group behind Pierce, she earned
a spot in the semifinals where she outclassed Russian Maria Sharapova in
straight sets (7-6, 6-3).
Mauresmo is 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. She is considered the best player
on the tour not yet to have claimed a Grand Slam singles title.
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