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FRENCH OPEN NOT OPENLY ACCESSIBLE TO FRENCHWOMEN
Mauresmo tries to 'exercise' her demons
By Alix Ramsay
Special to tennisreporters.net
FROM THE TELECOM ITALIA MASTERS IN ROME– It seems like we have been here before. There are less than two weeks to go before Roland Garros and Amelie Mauresmo looks to be in good nick physically and mentally so, logically, France looks to their heroine to make them proud at the French Open.
In the past it has all been too much for Mauresmo. With a game that many players would pay cash money for and a physique that can deal with even the strongest of the power players, she ought to be the proud possessor of at least one Grand Slam trophy by now.
But that is not accounting for Amelie's fragile nerve.
Two years ago she arrived in Paris with the best record of anyone. She had beaten the brightest and the best on clay on her way to Roland Garros and no one seemed able to stop her. Then, when faced with the weight of national expectation, she collapsed in the first round. She had the good grace to hold her hand up and admit to freezing under the pressure, but even such a rare display of honesty from a top player was not enough to save her. She would forever be branded a choker.
The problem is that Amelie is far more complicated than that.
She knows her strengths and knows all too well her weaknesses. As for dealing with life a celebrity, she has learned her lesson the hard way. After her very public coming out at the '99 Australian Open, she has discovered that privacy is a valuable asset. These days she keeps herself to herself and, at last, has found the balance between being a public professional athlete and a very private person. And she is thriving on it. With her personal life settled and happy, she has rediscovered the confidence on court that she needs to succeed.
She is here in Rome for the Italian Open and so far, so good. She stuttered slightly before dispatching Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-2, 7-6, faces Jennifer Capriati in the next round and seemed quite satisfied with life. "In the second set I was a little tired in my legs," she explained, "but that is because of all the hard work I have been doing in training. On the tough points I was able to raise my game but, still, I should be able to keep at my highest level throughout the match."
That is all very well, Amelie, but what about Roland Garros. "I know I will be tense," she said. "But the fact that I know I will be tense is much better than being tense and trying to forget about it."
BACK, LEG A BIT TOO STIFF
If only it were that simple. At the end of 2000, she started to suffer from back problems and a variety of leg injuries. No one seemed able to pi point the problem but, deep down, Amelie thought her troubles were related to her nerves. The tenser she got, the more susceptible to injury she was. Specific exercises helped with the physical symptoms, but still she had to learn to enjoy her tennis and relax.
A change of coach helped when she engaged the services of Loic Courteau last year. At the time she said she wanted someone who would "kick my ass" in training, but while Courteau knows how to push his charge on the practice courts, he also knows when to leave her alone. A neat combination of slave driver and laid-back friend, he seems to have found the magic formula.
Last year, Mauresmo reached the semifinals of both Wimbledon and the US Open and then headed purposefully to the indoor circuit. There, in Fliderstadt, she took on Kim Clijsters in the semifinals and, for more than two hours, the two women fought for the honors. In the end, Clijsters won, but the small gaggle of players who had gathered to watch could not believe what they had just seen. And if even pros reckon it was match to remember, it must have been good.
Yet more injury problems scuppered the end of Mauresmo's year, but this time it was straight forward, if excruciatingly painful, cartilage damage in her right knee. And not even she could blame that on nerves. The knee is still prone to flare up but, since her return to the circuit in February, she has managed to keep her game in good order, winning Warsaw and pushing eventual Berlin champ Justine Henin-Hardenne in a straight-set loss in the semis last wekend.
The real test, of course, comes on May 26 and the start of the French Open. With her courage held firmly in both hands, that is when she has to combine the power of positive thought with the sort of natural talent that other players can only dream of. Oh, and she has to allow herself to get nervous into the bargain.
It is a huge ask by anyone's standards, but even if she fails, it is unlikely that the disappointment will be devastating as in years gone by – at least Amelie has learned that much. And the more comfortable she becomes with herself and her position in the affections of the French supporters, the better her chance of lifting that all-important piece of silverware become.
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