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Mauresmo stuns Davenport
Unseeded Mauresmo Stuns Davenport To Reach Final
Mauresmo shocks Davenport
Unseeded Mauresmo overpowers Davenport

Mauresmo stuns Davenport !
28 January 1999 (www.ausopen.org)

Running with abandon and out-slugging the world's No. 1 player from her favored forehand side, France's Amélie Mauresmo displayed a champion's mettle and stunned Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Mauresmo, who fought off two match points in her first-round match against Corina Morariu, said that destiny may be on her side. "When I came back [against Morariu], my coach told me that usually when it happens like that, players win the tournament or go very far," said Mauresmo. "So I guess he was right. Of course I thought about it and now I just let loose."

The 19-year-old super-jock played a gritty and extremely intelligent match in the oppressive Melbourne humidity, keeping her jutted iron jaw up when it appeared the match was slipping away and standing toe-to-toe with the Tour's most accurate, hardest hitter deep in the third set.

On her second match point with Davenport serving, the muscular, fist-pumping Mauresmo engaged in a vicious eight ball forehand crosscourt rally with Davenport, and then scorched a gorgeous flat backhand passing shot down the line off a deep approach shot. Falling to her knees in joy, Mauresmo wagged her index fingers toward her jubilant supporters and let loose a broad smile.

"She put everything she had into that shot and it was great," Davenport said. "Sometimes if someone gets tight maybe they miss the passing shot. I think I did the right thing. If someone can come up with that shot, it's unbelievable."

The sandy-haired, ponytailed blonde - who looks more like a Baywatch head lifeguard than a tennis player - said she thought of her hero late in the match. "I saw Yannick Noah win the French Open (1983) and in the third set I thought I wanted to do the same thing," Mauresmo said. "I didn't get nervous because I kept my mind clear and focused on my tactics. I knew I had nothing to lose."

When Davenport looked across the net, she had visions of playing Cedric Pioline. "She's a very, very strong girl," Davenport said. "She's very talented and it seems mentally she has put it together. A couple of times I thought I was playing a guy. The girl was hitting so hard and I would look over there and she's so strong in the shoulders ... They look huge to me."

It took nearly two hours for Mauresmo's eclectic mix of shots to force the powerful Davenport off the court. And Mauresmo did what few women have done before her: she banged 23 forehand winners to the southern Californian's 10, a statistic rarely seen in Davenport's career save for her matches against Steffi Graf.

"I mixed it up, made her run and move and pushed her on her forehand," said Mauresmo, who cracked 48 winners in total. Davenport said Mauresmo's rolling topspin forehand is a class above the rest on the Tour. "She hits it hard and with so much topspin - women's tennis isn't normally played like that."

The first two sets resembled more of a men's match than a classic women's duel, with both players serving the lights out. Davenport won the first set on a clean forehand volley and appeared to be on her way to her second straight Grand Slam final. But in the second set, the 1998 US Open champion appeared to grow frustrated trying to read Mauresmo's serve, which the French hopeful can smoke at 177 kmh, and throw in a wide slice into the deuce court and a heavy kicker to the backhand side of the ad court.

With Davenport serving at 5-6, ad-out, in the second set, Mauresmo stepped around and wailed a forehand down the line winner to grab the second set. Early in the third set, Davenport seemed to regain her composure and broke Mauresmo to go up 2-1 on a backhand crosscourt pass. But Mauresmo broke back when her taller foe netted a backhand crosscourt. Not out of the match yet, Davenport broke again to go up 3-2 when Mauresmo netted a forehand. But Mauresmo, who had survived two long three-setters in her first two matches, kept battling.

At 3-4, after Davenport fought off three break points, Mauresmo forced Davenport into a backhand error and then the American appeared ready to fold. "I knew then I had a really good chance to win and I kept fighting until the end," said Mauresmo.

Davenport added, "Every time I got my foot in the door it sort of shut on my foot." Davenport survived her service game to go to 5-5, but unable to make a dent in Mauresmo's service games, she fell apart at 5-6, double faulting, being passed down the line and then being forced into a forehand error. At 0-40, Mauresmo knocked an inside out forehand into the net.

But with her broad shoulders flexed back on match point, she dug into the Rebound Ace and out-hit her foe. Davenport said the French teen may already have a champion's presence. "She seems very focused, mentally tough and she didn't get nervous at the end. She didn't hesitate at all. She took it. For this tournament, she's acting like a champion."

 

Unseeded Mauresmo Stuns Davenport To Reach Final
Thursday, 28 January, 1999 (www.ausopen.org)

World No. 29 Amélie Mauresmo reaches first-ever Grand Slam final, upsetting top seed and reigning US Open champion Lindsay Davenport in three sets.

Match duration: one hour, 56 minutes
Total points won: Davenport - 102; Mauresmo - 103

Mauresmo: converted 5 of 14 break points (36%) to Davenport's 4 of 5 (80%)

Mauresmo: won 70% of first serve points to Davenport's 67%

Mauresmo: 48 winners and 36 unforced errors

Mauresmo: advances to first Grand Slam final and only second final overall

Mauresmo: saved two match points in the first round against American Corina Morariu before winning 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-2

Davenport: was on a 12-match Grand Slam winning streak coming into the semifinals, having won the US Open last year

Mauresmo: first unseeded woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Venus Williams at the 1997 US Open

 

Mauresmo shocks Davenport
28 January 1999 (www.yahoo.com)

Mauresmo shocks Davenport, to face Hingis in Aussie Open final MELBOURNE

Top-seeded American Lindsay Davenport was cruising towards her second straight Grand Slam title at the Australian Open until she ran into French teenager Amélie Mauresmo. Davenport, who had not dropped a set in 12 straight Grand Slam matches dating to last year's U.S. Open triumph, surprisingly was overpowered by the 19-year-old Mauresmo, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, in the first semifinal Thursday (tonight in the United States) at Melbourne Park. Competing in just her second Australian Open, the 29th-ranked Mauresmo posted one of the biggest upsets in recent memory as she advanced to Saturday's final. She will face two-time defending champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland in Saturday's all-teenage final.

Unseeded Mauresmo overpowers Davenport
(www.sportingnews.com)

MELBOURNE, Australia --

Lindsay Davenport thought she was playing a man, a player so muscular, so quick, so relentless she was overwhelming. France's broad-shouldered Amélie Mauresmo emerged as the latest teen sensation to invade women's tennis, reaching the Australian Open final as the top-seeded Davenport yielded to her power and youth in the brutal heat.

Mauresmo, the 19-year-old former junior Wimbledon and French champion, reeled off six of her nine aces in the final set as she wore down the U.S. Open champion Thursday 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Mauresmo now goes for the title Saturday against two-time defending champion Martina Hingis.

Hingis has played Mauresmo a couple of close, tough matches, winning both times. "She's strong physically," Hingis said. "She just keeps fighting. You could see she was always pumped (against Davenport) even at 5-5 in the third." The thick, humid heat slowed down the rubberized hard court so that it played more like clay, an advantage for Mauresmo, who beat Davenport on clay in their only other meeting in Germany last year.

"I couldn't touch some of those serves at the end, and that made the difference," said Davenport, who hadn't dropped even a set in a Grand Slam match since the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year.

"Her shoulders looked huge to me, maybe because she was wearing a tank top. "She's a very, very strong girl. A couple of times I thought I was playing a guy, the girl was hitting it so hard. She's so strong in those shoulders. She hits the ball, y'know, not like any other girl. She hits it so hard and with so much topspin. Women's tennis is not usually played like that."

Mauresmo had plenty of confidence coming into this one-hour, 56-minute match. "The biggest thing was that I knew I could beat her," said Mauresmo, who shrugged off Davenport's comparisons of her to a man. "Perhaps the fact that I'm strong physically is maybe impressing her. It means that I'm a very solid player, so I take it as a compliment."

Mauresmo said she works out hard in the gym "to be the one who stays out longer on the court." Perhaps more impressive than Mauresmo's serves or deep, angled forehands were her onehanded backhands.

Most women hit two-fisted backhands or, like Graf and Jana Novotna, onehanded slices. Mauresmo hits hers with lots of topspin and power, the kind of shot that is more common on the men's tour.

Mauresmo pressured the 22-year-old Davenport from the start, making her work hard to fight off five break points before finally holding serve to 1-1 after 10 minutes.

Davenport managed to break Mauresmo a couple of times to take a 5-2 lead, but had trouble putting the set away. Mauresmo broke back to 5-3 with a brilliant, lunging forehand return crosscourt, then held to 5-4. Davenport settled down for a moment, though, and secured the set at love after 37 minutes with a forehand volley.

The second set went with serve until the 12th game, when Davenport broke down with a double fault that made it love-40. Mauresmo didn't waste that opportunity, jumping on a second serve and drilling it into the corner as Davenport stared at the spot and sagged. Davenport retreated for a long break after that set, but that rest didn't help.

Mauresmo served two aces to start the set. Davenport briefly asserted herself again, taking a 2-1 lead when she broke Mauresmo, but the French girl broke right back. Davenport registered another break to 3-2, but gave that one up a few games later as Mauresmo made it 4-4, then held to 5-5.

"When I broke back, I knew I had a really good chance to win this one," Mauresmo said. "I just kept my mind clear. I knew what I had to do. I had nothing to lose." Davenport looked visibly weak by that time, and Mauresmo was fresh as ever.

When Davenport opened the 12th game, trying to stay in the match while trailing 6-5, she double faulted on the first point on the only overrule of the match by the umpire. That call, on an apparent second-serve ace, threw Davenport off, but not as much as Mauresmo's strength.

Mauresmo ripped a forehand pass for love-30, and three points later at match point, she drilled a backhand pass that Davenport couldn't touch. Mauresmo's victory was her third over a seeded player. She beat No. 8 Patty Schnyder in the second round and No. 11 Dominique Van Roost in the quarters.

 

Hingis wins Australian Open

Martina Hingis is always thinking, experimenting and learning on the court, remembering what worked in 1997 and what was not so successful in 1998.

The losses and the lessons came together with her Grand Slam experience, as the second-seeded Hingis defeated unseeded Amélie Mauresmo of France, 6-2, 6-3, in 67 minutes here Saturday in the Australian Open final, winning on her seventh match point.

At 18, Hingis became the sixth woman to have won the Australian Open three consecutive times. That notable group includes Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. And this was her fifth Grand Slam singles championship. Hingis has appeared in seven finals, losing at the 1997 French Open and U.S. Open in September. ''I always do well here in Australia, so I was kind of expecting (it),'' she said. ''This is my surface ... how do you say it? My territory. I'm just probably a different player here. I hope I can keep it up the whole season.''

The brash Swiss teenager, who will remain No. 2 in the world behind Lindsay Davenport, also may have learned something off the court. Two days ago, she made a disparaging remark in German about Mauresmo's gender - and denied it the next day. This was coupled with innocent remarks from Davenport, who spoke about Mauresmo's powerful game and powerful build.

So, what should have been the most exciting time of Mauresmo's 19-year-old life turned into something of the nightmare, as she and her girlfriend became the fodder of tabloid headlines and TV stakeouts in Australia the last two days and the target of a popular satirical television show at home in France.

Saturday, the German media asked Hingis if she had been bothered by the controversy, and she said it was more important to ''give your answers on the court,'' not in the interview room. Hingis said she spoke to Mauresmo on the court. ''It's only between us, I think. It's between me and her and what's going on, besides us, no one else has to know,'' she said.

''I said I'm not going to talk about it. I told her something. There is nothing to apologize for.''

Said Mauresmo: ''All that has been happening is a little bit stupid. Both of them (Davenport and Hingis) apologized, so I don't want to talk about it. They apologized and that's it.'' She was asked if she was disappointed the attention had turned away from her tennis game. ''Yes, of course, anybody would be,'' she said.

Mauresmo's level of shot-making was amazing here the last two weeks, as she survived two match points in the first round, all the way through to her semifinal upset of Davenport in three sets. In the final, her major weapon - the topspin backhand down the line - often misfired, and she got in only 46 percent of her first serves.

The match did not turn theatrical and tense until the final game. Hingis led, 5-3, and Mauresmo was serving to stay in the match, and pulled out all the shots in her repertoire. In all, Mauresmo erased six match points, hitting winners on most of them, including an ace on Hingis' third match point. Finally, on match point No. 7, Mauresmo pushed a forehand volley into the net. ''I had a few occasions to come back,'' she said. ''I missed a little bit, these occasions, this time.

I'm going to learn how to deal with a Grand Slam final. There's a lot pressure and lot of tension. I think next time I am going to deal with it differently. For the first time, it wasn't too bad.'' Hingis displayed her tennis genius in the eighth game of the second set, leading 4-3. Mauresmo quickly put Hingis in trouble, earning three break points.

The first one was erased in dramatic fashion, as Hingis, almost insolently from behind the baseline, feathered over an unreachable drop shot. Two more Mauresmo errors pulled the game to deuce, and Hingis smacked two sensational passing shots on the dead run, the second a forehand down the line.

Hingis spoke highly of her opponent, who will move from No. 29 in the world to a career-best No. 17. ''If she continues playing like this, she will definitely have a big chance to be in the top 10,'' Hingis said.

 

Hingis wraps up singles and doubles
by Sandra Harwitt (www.tennis.com)

Never bashful, Martina Hingis was quick to tell a capacity crowd at the Australian Open after winning her third consecutive title at Melbourne Park that 'I was very good -- I couldn't be any better.' The Swiss Miss, who increased her fortune at the 'Down Under' Grand Slam to 21 straight match wins, ended the Cinderella story of unseeded Frenchwoman Amélie Mauresmo with a stunning 6-2, 6-3 final victory Saturday afternoon. With Hingis at 18 years old and Mauresmo at 19 years old, this marked the first all-teenage women's final at the Australian Open in 38 years.

That's when two Australians took to the court and 18-year-old Margaret Court defeated 19-year-old Jan Lehane in 1961. In another historical note, Hingis became one of six women players in the history of the Australian Open to win the title at least three times in their career, the first being Australian Daphne Akhurst back in the 1920s, for whom the women's trophy is named. The other players to accomplish the impressive feat were Nancye Bolton, Margaret Smith Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

For Hingis, a five time Grand Slam champion, this was her first major success since winning last year's Australian Open. Amazingly, Hingis has won the singles and doubles title here for three years running. 'I always do well here in Australia, so I was kind of expecting it -- this is my surface, my territory,' Hingis said, smiling. 'I did it again for the third time and I'm just probably a different player here at this tournament. 'I hope I can keep it up the whole season.'

It took Hingis a scant 67-minutes to display her muscle over the No. 29-ranked Mauresmo, a player who has been talked about non-stop at this Open because of her muscular physique. The victory provided Hingis with a flawless 3-0 career edge over Mauresmo, with their previous two encounters going the three-set distance. Mauresmo, the first unseeded woman finalist at the Australian since Chris O'Neil in 1978, admitted that nerves were a factor in this first Grand Slam final appearance. Prior to today, the best she'd ever done in at the Slams was reaching the third round at the 1998 Australian and U.S. Opens. 'She was a better player today and she played some really good tennis,' Mauresmo said. 'She has more experience at this level of competition, so, of course, she handles the pressure differently. 'It's just a very big event. I have worked for this for all my young career. So, it's a special moment, to get on the Centre Court to play a Grand Slam final. It's very big, emotionally it's very intense out there. I think that's what I call pressure.'

The Frenchwoman, who will move up the rankings to No. 18 following her performance here, knows this was an important learning experience. 'First, I think, I'm going to learn how to deal with the Grand Slam final,' Mauresmo said. 'It's a lot of pressure, a lot of tension. I think next time I'm going to deal with it differently. But for my first time I think it was solid.' Hingis came on court well aware of Mauresmo's capabilities and didn't underestimate the Frenchwoman's possibilities to create another upset at this tournament. After all, she already captured all the attention here with her amazing run to the final, most especially because of her breathtaking upset over world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in a three-set semifinal showdown.

'I took her definitely more serious this time than the other two times when I played her,' said Hingis, who moved closer to regaining the No. 1 ranking back from Davenport as a result of her victory. 'I think I was more focused from the beginning because the last time I played her I almost lost the first set. 'I was sort of relaxed when I played her and thought pretty much I can't lose anyway.' Mauresmo is a different type of player than most on the women's tour. Unlike most of the women players, with Spaniards Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez notable exceptions, Mauresmo plays a difficult topspin brand of tennis. She also employs a rarely seen shot in the women's game -- a one-handed backhand that quite often intimidates opponents, but is still a little streaky.

Unlike Davenport's performance against Mauresmo, Hingis left nothing to chance and took command of the match immediately. Hingis served notice in the opening moments of the match, when she broke Mauresmo's serve after the Frenchwoman led 40-15 in that first game. The second set was a lot closer as Mauresmo recouped service breaks twice in the set. Nevertheless, Mauresmo was not able to salvage a third service break in the seventh game when at 30-40 she mis-hit a forehand which bypassed the baseline by a number of feet.

Mauresmo did serve notice at this tournament that she's a fighter and will never just fade away in the match. On her serve in the final game, Mauresmo escaped six match points before she could no longer prevent Hingis from a third straight title. As those match points ticked by, Hingis admitted she was thinking about the fact that Mauresmo had saved two match points in the first round against American Corina Morariu.

'The last game was just never-ending,' Hingis said. 'You could really see how she saved those match points against Morariu. 'She hit some great shots on match point. Some other girls might probably be shaky or something, but she just went for it and played some good points.' At this point the 19-year-old Mauresmo is a raw talent, with a game that still exhibits erratic tendencies that need to be tempered.

She's the type of player that goes for everything which enabled her to score 31 outright winners in the match, but also caused 41 unforced errors.

Mauresmo is similar to Hingis in that both were former ITF Junior World Champions -- Mauresmo garnered the honors in 1996 when she won the French and Wimbledon junior titles.

Hingis truly believes that Mauresmo's junior success will be of significance in the Frenchwoman's future. 'I think if she continues like this she definitely will have a big chance being in the Top 10 soon,' Hingis said. 'I think because she was a No. 1 junior in the world before, she knows how to be a champion -- she showed it at this tournament that she can beat great players. For sure, she gained some confidence here and will be very good in the future.'