MAURESMO READY TO POUND INTO A SLAM FINAL

Can Amelie chop down Venus?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE U.S. OPEN – For the second time in two months, tennis faces the Amelie Mauresmo enigma. Which player will come out and face Venus Williams in the U.S. Open semis: the gutsy, mentally tireless high-variety player who outlasted Jennifer Capriati 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-3 in the quarters Wednesday, or the woman who was meekly whaled on by Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semis?

A quarterfinalist here last year, Mauresmo has had a terrific summer and has added numerous twists and turns to her oncourt plots. Most importantly, she finally appears to be a mentally tough player. Will she choke again, like she has done so many times at Roland Garros, or will she stand toe to toe with the great and powerful Venus?

“You can never say it’s never going to happen again,” Mauresmo said. “But I hope I’m getting more mature and maybe I have a little more experience to handle these matches better. But anything can happen and you always have to fight against tension.”

Mauresmo has an 0-4 record against Williams, but did push her in two long three-set losses at the ’01 Aussie Open and earlier this year at the Open de Gaz in Paris.

“I have a good chance and I’m going to go out there thinking that,” said the 23-year-old Frenchwoman. “But Venus is good and it’s going to be very tough, especially because it was very tough physically for me today. I’m going to have to recover very well. But I will take my chances, that’s for sure.”

In handing Capriati her most crushing U.S. Open defeat, Mauresmo showed tremendous heart and oncourt smarts. Serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, Capriati sprayed the court with errors while Amelie grit her teeth.

“At some point I thought, ‘OK it’s not my day, I’m going home,’ ” Mauresmo said. “It’s not that I’m not going to fight or I’m out of the match, but when you are down a set and 6-5 and she’s serving, you have to hang in there, even if you’re thinking, it’s the last game. That’s what I did and it worked out pretty well.”

Here’s what Mauresmo showed against Jennifer: heavily topspinned forehands, numerous deadly backhand slices; stretch volleys, a good flat and kick serve combo and the ability to figure out where he foe was the most vulnerable.

“I feel great inside,” said Mauresmo, who has beaten Capriati three straight times, including in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. “Now I have a different way to win a match, either go to net and be aggressive and dictate, or if it doesn't work and I don’t feel well physically, I can hang in there and make my opponent play one more shot.”

Venus is an entirely different opponent that Capriati and it showed in her rout against Seles, when she consistently bombed in first serves in the high teens and didn’t face a break point until deep in the second set. She won’t back off on midcourt balls and will return more aggressively. Venus rarely has to come up with passing shots but will have to do so against the Frenchwoman. Williams will not just hand over control of the net to Mauresmo, so Amelie is going to have to seize it from her. Venus appears to b very confident she’ll reach her third straight final.

“She’s at a stage in her career here she can only go forward,” Venus said. “I remember a couple of years ago when I was at that stage also, where I was getting to the quarters and semis and all I could do was try to go ahead and try to win those. She’s at that stage. Fortunately, I’m at that stage where I’ve done that and I I’d like to do it again. I do enjoy playing her. She hits a nice ball. I like the way it sits.”