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USopen'03day8
Mauresmo no longer a darkhorse
By Eleanor Preston
Special to tennisreporters.net
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Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FROM THE US OPEN – Despite the stars and stripes flag currently fluttering over the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the odds are this year's US Open women's title is destined for European hands.
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne are one and two seeds, the Williams sisters are not here and most people are backing one Belgian or the other.
Amidst the battle between the American veterans and the Belgian interlopers, one woman is quietly creeping through the draw, edging ever closer to the trophy by means of stealth.
That's the way Amelie Mauresmo likes things to be. The Frenchwoman is notoriously flighty, but like a thoroughbred racehorse, her readiness to take fright may simply be confirmation that she has class streaming through her veins. With the attention focussed elsewhere, her progress thus far in New York has been unspectacular yet quietly satisfying and free from the kind of pressure which has been her undoing in the past.
Her 6-2, 6-2 fourth-round win over Tamarine Tanasugarn is a case in point. Played on the Grandstand court in the gloaming, the match was quick, efficient and a neat illustration of her conspicuous talents. An hour and seventeen minutes was all it took to dispose of the Thai and what was, in the end, a gentle workout for Mauresmo might also serve as a warning for shot for her next opponent, No. 1 Kim Clijsters.
Last year Mauresmo, made the semifinals here – the first Frenchwoman to do so since Francoise Durr in 1967 – before running into Venus Williams, against whom she had chances to win. On the way to the last four Mauresmo beat both Clijsters (7-5 in the third in the fourth round) and Jennifer Capriati, another tight three-setter in the quarters.
There is no doubt Clijsters has improved beyond measure since then and she has the No. 1 ranking to prove it, but that top seeding may start to wear heavily on her as the tournament nears a climax.
BEEN PLAYING KIM TOUGH
Mauresmo, by contrast, has nothing to lose, a fact which should help her cause enormously. Clijsters leads their head to heads 3-2 and won their last two matches, both which were nailbiters.
Susan Mullane/
Camerawork USA, Inc. |
"We've played each other a few times," Mauresmo said. "We know each other's game pretty well. So I guess she has some weapons to disturb me, and I have a few to disturb her also. You have to move well, be ready, be aggressive yourself, try to not let her do what she likes to do, which is dictating the game, which is very tough. That's why she got to that No. 1 spot."
Neither woman has exactly proved herself to be immune to pressure in the past and that makes the encounter a fascinating study in psychology. Mauresmo sealed an unfortunate reputation as a choker two years ago when she arrived at Roland Garros as a red-hot favorite and froze in the first round like a rabbit caught in oncoming headlights. She admitted that the simply couldn't cope with the hype of being favorite at her home Grand Slam.
Clijsters led Serena Williams by 5-1 in the final set of this year's Australian Open before succumbing to her emotions and five months later, in the French final against Henin-Hardenne, suffered an embarrassing case of stage fright.
Whoever comes through the match knows that they will probably have played their toughest opponent – at least on paper – in their half of the draw but there is no doubt Clijsters is the one really under the microscope.
"I feel better this year than I did last year," Clijsters said. Especially against Amelie, everything has to be at your best. She mixes her game up so well. She can be very aggressive but then she can mix with the slices and the spin ball, she can really make it hard for you and make you adjust all the time."
Should Mauresmo beat her, however, her days of dipping under the radar here may be over. She will have proved herself to be a genuine contender for this title and it will be time to face the spotlight and all the pressures that come with it. |
