Mauresmo may be ring-rusty but boasts she has the weapon to win Wimbledon again

David Ornstein
Monday June 18, 2007

If Amélie Mauresmo had her way the entire women's tour would be played on grass, preferably at the All England Club. But having spent the past 11 months treading every surface apart from the green stuff, and with Wimbledon starting a week today, her decision to enter a tournament that has a knack of derailing her preparations for the season's third grand slam must be questioned.
An almost masochistic smile plays on the 27-year-old's face, though, when she confirms her fitness for the International Women's Open in Eastbourne this week, the last stop before SW19 and an event in which she has lasted a total of two days in as many years.

Few of the world's top players would consider drawing inspiration from being knocked out of any competition but Mauresmo's opening-match defeats in Sussex - 6-4, 6-4 to Vera Douchevina two years ago and 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 to Nathalie Dechy last year - have had a galvanising effect. In 2005 she regrouped to go through Wimbledon without losing a set until she was pipped for a place in the final by Lindsay Davenport, and last year she lifted the title with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Justine Henin.
Since then she has won only one tournament - the Antwerp Open on carpet - and her build-up has again been disrupted, by an operation for appendicitis, which sidelined her for the best part of two months, and by a 1¼in tear in her right thigh sustained during her third round defeat in the French Open.

Since her surgery on March 13 the world No4 has been limited to four tournaments. Yet she remains confident of retaining the Wimbledon title. "Last year before Wimbledon I was not very positive about my game, about the way I was feeling and about the way I was mentally on the court," she said. "This year I'm happy to be back here but with not as much tennis behind me - two different conditions but some questions still about how I feel and about how I can do. But the experience has to show at some point and hopefully it will be next week."

Mauresmo was speaking within hours of landing in Britain. Whereas many would head straight for their hotel - or in her case the house she rents each year - to rest, the French player could not hide her excitement at being back. "Every time I enter the [Wimbledon] area it's really something different, something special that I cannot really explain," she said. "I've been proud for a year to have been the defending champion of Wimbledon and I guess it's going to be even more emotional for me when I step on to a court to practise at Wimbledon for the first time. I'm really looking forward to going back - happy, proud and confi dent being back on the grass."

Mauresmo's affection for grass courts dates back to 1996 when, as a promising teenager with thick glasses and a fine one-handed backhand, she won junior Wimbledon. She has since reached three semi-finals but it was not until last year's triumph that the effectiveness of her powerful serve-volley game really came to fruition.

"The first time I step on a grass court is always very special and I enjoy it," she said. "It requires different weapons in terms of physical training but I like it, it suits me pretty well. Considering that not a lot of players play like me on grass I think I have a big weapon."

One weapon many still refuse to include in Mauresmo's armoury is mental strength. The fact that she has fallen in the semi-finals at five slams, with her maiden victory in the Australian Open last year secured by Henin's early retirement because of a bout of gastroenteritis, hardly works in her defence.

But Wimbledon was a chance to prove people wrong. "I said, 'Don't talk about my nerves any more,'" she joked, repeating a line she came out with in her press conference after conquering Wimbledon. "The win last year probably showed the media and the crowd in general that I was able to win the big ones and go to the end. Even though I was already convinced about that, I think I still had to prove it to people. Was it also important to show my opponents? Looking back at it, probably yes."

Despite pointing out that the grass is playing slower each year, to the detriment of hard hitters such as Venus and Serena Williams, Mauresmo thinks the American pair, "especially Serena", will pose the biggest threat to her crown. "We saw how strong she was in Australia and in Miami," she said. "When she is playing well and with confidence she is always a big threat, as well as Venus. With these two guys you never really know what to expect. We've also seen Jelena Jankovic playing really, really well for almost a year now; she has stepped up to another level."

Mauresmo denied that winning Wimbledon had altered her life, but added that her "bank balance has changed a little bit" and the incentive to succeed again this year is greater than ever before. For the first time the women's champion will earn the same prize money as the men's, £700,000, which for the women is a 12% increase on £625,000 last year.

"I always thought it was a matter of time before all the grand slams would make that step," she said. "It's really a reflection of how society should be and the fact that women and men are paid the same. We are always going to find some people who say, 'Yes, but the men play five sets,' but we work and practise every day as hard as any other player, whether it's a man or a woman." Mauresmo will hope her lack of practice before this Wimbledon does not prevent her from achieving such parity.

A year to forget

2006:

Aug New Haven, US quarter-final

Sept US Open semi-final, Beijing final

Oct Moscow quarter-final, Zurich quarter-final

Nov Tour Championships final

2007:

Jan Sydney quarter-final, Australian Open R16

Feb Paris semi-final, Antwerp winner, Dubai final

May Berlin R16, Italian Open R32, Strasbourg final

June French Open R32

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/wimbledo...105507,00.html