Interview of Amélie by Yannick Cochennec published in Tennis Magazine, number 282, August 99


Tennis magazine TM : Amélie, you have got twenty years since some days. How do you have celebrate this birthday ?

Amé : We have organize a little lunch with a few number of person, here in Saint Tropez. We were 8 or 10 persons. It was great, quiet. I made no excess this night (smile). Because the others friends I wanted to invite were not free at this date, or were occupied in Paris, I consider to organize a bigger party in september after the US Open in order to celebrate this event really.


TM : Ask you yourself : I am already twenty or I am just twenty ?

Amé : Both. When I was a little girl, I saw twenty years old like a far date. And now, I am 20 and I think it is too young and that I still be a kid but, on the other side, I have lived many things in my private life and in my professionnal life. I am proud to have made what I have made at just twenty. And I think I have a lot of time in front of me to attempt my aims. I am at the beginning of my life.


TM : If you must compared today Amélie Mauresmo to the Amélie who celebrated her nineteen's birthday, which differences you see ?

Amé : In one year, everything has changed. In tennis, I was able to pass a decisive course and I have got many experience. On the side of my personnality, i have damned changed. I am more mature, more thoughtful, I trust more myself. I want more telling things to people, I am more honnest. It is a real transformation.


TM : When appears this desire to change in your personnal life ?

Amé : It appears with maturity, simply. What appears in my private life, what appears on tennis court, everything has created, in fact, conditions of this evolution. It is an age where you learn many thing about life and where you ask yourself many questions. Sylvie meeting was decisive in order to permit saying and making what I wanted to say and to make.


TM : When you think about the two big events you have lived on personnal and professionnal side, do you believe all that happened to you in a so short time ?

Amé : Now, I have stomach everything that happenned since the beginning of the year. Today, I search aims for the end of this season and the next one. I relativize. The fact that not only tennis is important in my life help me a lot. I feel good and ready to go away.


TM : Because of your sprain ankle, you couldn't play at Winbledon. How have you feeled the fact to be away of professionnal course and that you couldn't participate to this important event ?

Amé : I don't believe hazard and I think this sprain didn't occured by chance, it occured at at a time where there had many, many pression around me and many, many tension around me. Today, when I think about that, I conclude that the fact to be out of Wimbledon and to have not be in front of all the tournament give, like scandalous newspapers, it was simply a good thing. I needed holidays to rest physically and mentally. On one side, this ankle was a worse thing for a good thing (french expression).


TM : In a such period, have you totally cut with tennis news or have you got some informations from england tournament ?

Amé : Clearly, I have not really followed Wimbledon. I have read sometimes newspapers but rarely in fact. I didn't want to interest. For me, this period has corresponded with a total decompression phase and with care. With tennis, this weeks were under the sign of the reflexion and distance.


TM : Decompression, reflexion, what do you mean ?

Amé : Decompression is spending a quiet day, swimming in he sea, taking care of dogs and the cat, meeting people, making other thing, taking advantage of Sylvie, my friends and people where around me. Reflexion is : coming back on what happened since the beginning of the year, how, why. It's analyzing the past in order to prepare future. It's making point and shedule future.


TM : Which are the main things that you have kept after all what happenned ?

Amé : All the good results I have got in Australia but in Coubertin and in Fed Cup too became from the combination of two things : thruth in myself and slackness. In Australia, I was relaxe and I went further on. At Coubertin, I felt good because I was on a court where atmosphere was fabulous. When I feel good, when pression don't enter in my mental preparation, i am able to play my best tennis. At Roland Garros, pression don't permit myself to be at cent per cent and to give all the tennis I have in me.


TM : Exactly, Roland Garros, let's speak about that. You have leave the tournament in a chair. How has evoluted your injury ?

Amé : There has a ligament rupture. My foot must be totally immobilized. Then I have followed Two reeducation weeks in Boulouris (France). I went here everyday, I started the morning and i came back at the end of the day. At the end of the morning, i received cares during two hours and in the afternoon, i worked physically as much as I could with my ankle. Since five days (interview dated some days after Amé birthday) i have take my racket, i train myself one hour per day in order to find my marks and my look on court (coup d'¦il, french expression!).


TM : What have you thought at the time of your injury on court ?

Amé : I have thought it was serious. I have eared a creaking then it hurt me strongly immediatly. I didn't think immediatly to the injury's consequences but I was sure it was serious. People were afraid about a bone rupture but finally, it was not. I had wait two days before knowing exactly what I had really. It was a very painful wainting. Physically painful because it hurted me very hard. During two nights, I couldn't sleep because of pain. Mentally, it went good, i'm cool (in english in text), i take not my head with that (french expression).


TM : Have you know such a pain experience in your life before this one ?

Amé : Never. I knew pain you can feel after training when your muscles burn and make pain but i never got such a pain injury.


TM : Have you had time or desire to see womens final at Roland Garros and if yes, what have you thought about that ?

Amé : I have see the two finals. To speak about the woman final, i say bravo to steffi because she is coming back from further. About Hingis, i will say, like press, that she has showed at this occasion her kid side and her excessive pride. People have see her real face. She has breaked down, it's clear.

TM: Can you understand how she broke down ? Like her you're still young and you know what does the pressure of 16 000 people looking at you mean, even if you never had such a hostility from the crowd...

Amé: Hostility perhaps, but she's got experience of this kind of very tensed match, and she's used to play in 16 000 people stadium. As I said after the Australian Open, she doesn't know anything about life and she needs to learn. Everything doesn't go as we want. We cannot allways win. Others also got values and fight. She was programmed to become the champion she is, yes, but she has to consider her opponents qualities.

TM: So you were happy to see Steffi Graff winning...

Amé: I was really happy for her, even more when I knew it was her last Roland Garros. She had more solid nerves. Mentally, I's been stronger. Graf is like a model for me. I already could train with her. Working session were really intense. She's wilful and fight till the end.

TM: In Wimbledon she admitted she gave advices to Jelena Dokic who asked her for it. Did she already do the same with you ?

Amé: No, but perhaps because I never asked her for anything (smile). I didn't dare last year when I trained with her. But if tomorow I think she can help me, I would not hesitate to ask her for two or three advices. She's a very sympathic girl and I'm not surprised she did so with Dokic.

TM: Did Martina Navratilova try to contact you ? Like her, you said publicly you were homosexual. Perhaps you wanted to compare your viewpoints...

Amé: After the Australian Open, she send me an e-mail in which she told about nearly everything happened to her. She also told about many technical things about my tennis. I was pleased to see I interested her.

TM: Let's talk again about Roland Garros. We already said you knew physical pain. Could you say you also felt a kind of psycological pain ?

Amé: Against Hingis, I felt a huge frustration, because I didn't manage to play what I wanted and to put into practice what I planed except for the five first games. I wanted to crush her, I wanted to do more, I wanted to do too much. Expectations were enormous and I didn't know how to well manage with the event. I've seen some pictures of the match which showed me I wasn't really serene on that day.

TM: Was you disappointed for you or for the crowd who remained hungry ?

Amé: First of all, I was disappointed for me. Personnaly, it's a difficult experience to live.

TM: Did we finally expected to much of you for this event ?

Amé: Without doubt, yes. I started the tournament unseeded, but people expected me to reach at leat quarter or semi. It was a little too much. I know my tennis can allow me to go that far, but I've not been spoiled with the draw. I've done something great in Australia, but perhaps I wasn't ready to continue with such a result i Roland Garros. Nevertheless, I'm convinced one day, I'll manage something in Roland Garros.

TM: This frustration is born from tension you felt. When did you realised about this pressure on you ?

Amé: Before the tournament. I had an enormous amound of requests from medias. I would say I tried to do the least as possible in order to keep energy and a kind of serenity. It was a real worry. I didn't want to do too many things at once, but in the same time, I knew there would be some disatisfied. Today, I do not regret what I've done. If I compare with the Open Gaz de France, where requests were also important, I found it different, mostly from the crowd. In Coubertin, it was smaller but warmer. People were all behind me. In Roland Garros, it was not the same.

TM: If you had to insist on an error you made in Roland Garros, which one would it be ?

Amé: (silence) I think I sould have limit the number of people in my close circle (in Roland Garros, Amélie was adviced by the all "Demongeot team" with Isabelle Demongeot, Christophe Fournerie and Sophie Collardey). Less people on the place with me, that would have been better.

TM: Too many people around you, that's to say...

Amé: There were no contradictions, everyone had the same speech. But in fact, everything was dispersed. We talked about it in the group. It went off well, everyone understood.

TM: When one found himself on a giant poster on a whole building Porte d'Auteuil, didn't he feel a shock ?

Amé: A shock, the word is too much. On one hand, I was pleased. It was a big recognition. On the other hand, it was perhaps a little too much, as on this wall I took Ronaldo's place who's perhaps the better football player in the world. But it didn't disturb me, neither it gave me more pressure. I took it simply.

TM: How do you explain the impact you had inFrance ? You immediatly became a star. Right away, your love rating has been high...

Amé: I first explain that with my declarations about my homosexuality. People appreciate my frankness. They were surprised, even some shocked. It's also because on the court I give pleasure to spectators. I think I'm charismatic, I express what I feel. I live the matchs intensively and perhaps they feel as if they receive something from me. It's a little like what Yannick Noah lived for many years. He also expressed a lot on court and it pleased. And he also is in a minority (smile).

TM: Which are the best moment you lived during the last six months ?

Amé: Hours just after my semi against Davenport in Australia were very strong. Then there was the Open Gaz de France with a mad atmosphere. It was more than tennis. It was a communion with the crowd. The first time I came on court in Coubertin, I felt at once people were waiting for me. I didn't feel that in Roland Garros. I explain that because in Coubertin, people came for me. As tickets can be bought on the match day, spectators really choose the ones they want to see. In Roland Garros it's different. Tickets are sold six months before. People were not necessarily here because they wanted to see me.

TM: Did you already suffer from this fame ?

Amé: Since Australian Open, I received about 2 000 letters. Some of them were a little hard, but we cannot control humain stupidity (smile). It was a small minority because most of the others were terrific. Otherwise, I've never been verbaly attacked in the street by exemple. People prefere send an anonymous letter very cowardly (smile). Everyone who came to me either to talk about my results or to evoke my frankness toward my private life, was really positive.

TM: Did the press glance change with the time ?

Amé: Without doubt, a kind of press started to wait for a blunder in order to "break" me, because some people couldn't accept I'm talking about my homosexuality. In Roland Garros, because of the frustration I talked about earlier I didn't reply to public and media expectations, and perhaps there were some deceptions from the press. There were also Sylvie declarations which made people talk, but some people didn't realized they were to pressing, and sometimes it has to "explode" (after the match against Hingis, from the stands, Sylvie Bourdon blamed sharply Nelson Monfort, France Television journalist, who was interviewing Amélie). I don't like when people try to take up all the time of me. I need a vital space.

TM: How did you feel that "polemic" ?

Amé: Some newspaper used this declarations in order to hit me. If this declarations were done, it's also because there was a reason, some forgot it. As I said, some people rushed on me when I was living a difficult moment. Sylvie had a protective reaction which wanted to say : "she will come to see you, but let her breath". It wasn't heard like that, it's a pity.

TM: About your fame, we cannot say you've been spared by Canal+ "Guignols" ?

Amé: In fact, I've never seen the "Guignols" since I'm concerned. I've never seen my puppet, but some people told me it was really beautiful (smile). I only heard what some people want to say me. It seems to be hard. But I heard someone from Canal+ invited in a broadcast saying that in 10 years with the "Guignols", the only mistake they've done was with Mauresmo. At least, they realized their stupidity.

TM : Has your celebrity changed your appearence ?

Amé : I be careful that i say and that i make. My relation with other people has changed obviously. I'm more suspicious. I ask myself some questions. I say to me that if some people come with me it's only because i'm famous and it's obviously disturbing.

TM : About you, is it easy to be trap like Hingis and Davenport as they have been by press at Australian open when they have made all thier declarations about you ?

Amé : Yes, you can be trap, if you are the 270eth in the WTA range and if it's your first interview, it's normal to fall down in the trap. But Davenport and Hingis were far to be beginners in front of journalists. They have had a lot of interviews before this one. They didn't fall down in the trap. There was one of them who got upset at defeature. All she has found to say is that i stroke like a man. But in fact, her, she strike stronger than me, it's clear (smile). And the other one has wanted to make a joke declaring what she has said, but we have spoke before about that. She must think before she open her mouth.

TM : Do you think you're beginning a new period in your carrier ?

Amé: You can say that. The big pression of this year is passed with Roland Garros. I'm going to be more quiet in order to work. Now arrive the US Open. At this time, my tennis programm still stay uncertain. The only certainty is that i play at New Heaven. I'm wainting in order to see how my ankle is going to react with efforts. Flushing Meadow is a site that i enjoy like the ground. At this time, i haven't clear objectives for this tournament but at the middle of august it's become clearer.

TM : Have you had the time to make conclusion with your Demongeot team where you are integrate since december ?

Amé : The thinking period that i speak before was made in order to study how things have evoluted with the team (in english in the text). We have spoke about what is good and what is not. We're going to start with better marks. At Roland Garros, as I have said before, we have meat all together in the same place, on the same ground. It's likely that there is only one trainer for transfer messages than two or three one. I must have only one person to speak with me.

TM : Who will be this trainer ?

Amé : It will depend with calendar. Each trainer of the team can today give me different and complementary thinks.

TM : As in Key Biscayne this year, will you make trip without trainer ?

Amé : Yes because the relation trainer-player can become a situation of conflict. You must be able to take your marks. Even if i've got bad results at Key Biscayne or Hilton Head, i had my own feelings, more personnal. With such experiences, i progress in my tennis and in my personnality.

TM : The fact that you have three trainers to support, is it not difficult, because each has his ego and want to highlight himself ?

Amé : There is no problem because the roles are well define. Isabelle is the manager and Christophe and Sophie are the trainers. Mistakes have been made but we have spoke about during our meeting after Roland Garros.

TM : And Sylvie, is she continue to follow you in the future ?

Amé : Yes. In Australia, she has lived a very strong experience with me and she want to relive it again. For example, she will come at US Open. She has a good vision of things. She has impressions less accurate than trainers but she feel good what's happenned. Near the court, she give me motivation, the enjoy to go on. I know she is here and it's help me. Between the moment i've met her and today, i've changed enormously, it's sure.

TM : Has the homosexual community tried making you a standard bearer ?

Amé : There was many asking for that, there is less now because people who were concerned have understood that i didn't like to be a standard bearer. I have said what i must said for myself and for my life. It's only concern myself, it's my problem. If it can help other people it's great. If it can help society to be more open and more tolerant, it's greater. But i don't want transfer messages or be a standard bearer.

TM : Have you receive many letters from homosexual people ?

Amé :There were a lot. Most of them said thank you. But homosexual or not, people were at all very nice.

TM : In the tennis course, how was received your homosexuality ?

Amé : It's bizarre, but i have the impression that girls who were concerned by homosexuality were afraid compared to me as i will reveal their homosexuality. I didn't want that. Everybody make what they want. The WTA has reacted middlely. There was two persons who have said : becareful of you're making, you're saying. I have estimated that I have no score to settle with anybody. I'm free. If i was direct, it's for my well-being. They try to preserve their job, ok, but they must respect freedom of others.

TM : In order to conclude, what about Saint-tropez, how do you feel in these holiday's site ?

Amé : When i open the windows, i see the sea. It's a privilege (smile). I have luck to live here. I feel good in this house. I appreciate the fact that i have such a site like this one. When i'm on the tennis course, i think to this site : i know it's here i live, that's here where i enjoy to return. During the last years, i was here or there, i had a flat in Paris, but people can't say that it's my home.

TM : Are you bother since the summer's beginning ?

Amé : It's ok. I take a hat and glasses in order to go to the beach (smile). In fact, i stay behind the beach and i swim with the dogs, so people don't approach (smile). Here, when i go out, i have no problems but in Saint-Tropez, it's harder. I go out during night but never on pavement. I go in a corner and i eat quietly. Forbidden to ride on harbour, it's impossible mission.

TM : Paparazzi do not enter in action ?

Amé : No, they aren't here but they will not delay. Generally, they take their breakfast at the "Gorille". We will look how it will happen (smile). What it bother myself is that i don't go to Saint-Tropez because i want to show myself but because i live here. It's a different situation than the other stars who spend their holidays here. I hope people will respect my life and make the difference.

TM : Do you help Sylvie at the "Gorille" ?

Amé : No, i go sometimes but i leave her alone. It's not my job, it's hers (smile) ! during the night, i sleep.