Mauresmo powers into final
(Jan 15th 2000 - Sydney)

It was the rematch everyone wanted, and, for many of us, it was the result as well.
Amelie Mauresmo, the French powerhouse cruelly derided by Martina Hingis as 'half a man' after last year's Australian Open, yesterday tasted the sweet fruits of revenge after playing the 'Swiss Miss' off the court to win 7-5, 6-3.

Returning to Australia for the first time after her defeat by Hingis in the Open final in similarly straight sets last January, Mauresmo today proved that has class as well as sheer power in her armoury. Down 3-5 in the first set, with Hingis serving at 30-0 up, the statuesque Frenchwoman simply would not lie down and die as the world No. 1 so dearly wanted her to. "It would have looked different if I'd won that first set," Hingis explained with a slight shrug. "She's pretty confident, she's worked out a lot and her backhand's looking pretty solid."

Mauresmo, who has now drawn level with Hingis at two each since Melbourne, says today's match ranks among her greatest. "The best part for me was being 3-5 down in the first, coming back to win that first set, and then the first two games of the second set. I was so focused from start to finish, and wouldn't let her play her game at all."

Hingis said that all through the match that she had been trying to work on Mauresmo's weakpoint of her backhand, but to no avail. curiously, while Hingis thinks of the Frenchwoman's backhand as her Achilles heel, Mauresmo considers it her 'weapon'. So when Hingis says that perhaps she is not reading the game as well as she used to, it is hard not to believe her.

Despite saying that the defeat of the world No. 1 obviously gives her a certain amount of confidence in the run-up to the first grand slam of the year, the French No.2 specified that she did not want anyone to mention who she is drawn to play next week in Melbourne.

"I'm taking each game at a time. I am feeling stronger than ever because of everything that's happened to me over the past year, both good and bad. I know what my weapons are and I am completely in control of my game now." Perhaps unsurprisingly, she now counts herself amongst the favourites for this year's Australian Open, and judging by her performance today, she could well be right.

And for those of you who are wondering what Hingis might have said to her victor as they shook hands over the net, Mauresmo is remaining decidedly tight-lipped. She will face either Lindsay Davenport or Anna Kournikova in tomorrow's centre court tomorrow afternoon.