When top tennis pro Pete Sampras announced he would not play in the men’s tournament of this year’s Australian Open, it seemed there would be no news from down under this year. But along came France’s 19-year-old up-and-comer Amélie Mauresmo. Mauresmo stole the show by upsetting two top-ranked players to make it to her first grand slam final. And, along the way, she opened a firestorm of controversy by becoming the first pro player to openly discuss her Lesbian identity since Martina Navratilova.

After defeating No. 1 ranked Lindsay Davenport in the tournament semifinals, Mauresmo leapt into the arms of her new girlfriend, 31-year-old Sylvie Bourdon, and told the press that her success was due to finding love and coming to terms with her sexual orientation.

"Looking up at Sylvie during the matches was that little extra support that I needed," Mauresmo told reporters, according to a USA Today Sports report. "Finding Sylvie and having such a good personal life now has made the difference in my tennis. It had been the missing part of my life."

The former junior U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion ultimately lost in the Jan. 30 finals to No. 2 ranked Martina Hingis (6-2, 6-3). But most of the news coming out of the tournament involved the 18-year-old Swiss wonder kid Hingis’s off-the-court shots at Mauresmo. According to ESPN.com, Hingis told reporters before the match that the difference between Mauresmo now and when the two last met on court was, "She’s here with her girlfriend. She’s half a man." Hingis has since denied making the remark.

avenport, an American, also had to answer for her own off-the-court remarks. After losing to Mauresmo, she reportedly insinuated to reporters that Mauresmo looked and played like a man. "Women’s tennis isn’t normally played like that," USA Today Sports quoted her saying. "The shoulders looked huge."

But Davenport has since apologized to Mauresmo and chastised the press for misrepresenting her real point: That Mauresmo’s weightlifting has paid off in giving her a more powerful game.

Mauresmo dismissed the controversy surrounding both comments as "a little stupid" and declined to comment on them any further. Her coach, Christophe Fournerie, wasn’t so ready to move on. According to ESPN.com, Fournerie was irate about Hingis’s remark and lack of apology.

"It would be better if she reflected a little before speaking," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Mauresmo’s performance on the court drew plenty of attention itself. She came into the tournament ranked 29^th in the world. Her unexpected success catapulted her to 17^th as of Feb. 1.