Mauresmo wins Sydney
Jan-16-2000

It was the perfect way to silence any sceptics who might have thought that yesterday's defeat of the world number one was a fluke. Having defeated Martina Hingis in straight sets in the semis, today it was the turn of the
world number two, Lindsey Davenport, to taste the gallic return of form. In straight sets the Amazonian 20-year-old stuck her tongue out to the old-guard who last year derided her for her sexuality and physique with a well-crafted 7-6, 6-4 win over the defending champion.

At several points throughout the match it seems as if it Davenport might well run away with her second adidas trophy. It was also the perfect opportunity for the world number two to avenge her surprise defeat by Mauresmo in the semi-final of last year's Australian Open. But despite leading 4-2 and later serving 6-5 for the first set, Davenport always seemed to falter at the last hurdle.

"It just seemed to me today that whenever I needed to play well, or consistently, I was the one coming up with the errors on the big points," said Davenport.

"That's something I haven't done in a while. I need to learn from that and maybe it's just a good wake up call for Melbourne."

For Mauresmo, who entered the competition recovering from flu, the final was all the more satisfying.

"I'm getting used to fighting out of a critical situation. I'm not losing my concentration. It's all such a mental game, and I'm really on top,"

"I started off the week not so well, but got better every day. Having beaten the world number one and two I feel I'm now at a high level and want to stay there. Winning was a great warm-up for next week," she joked.

After finishing the second set, Mauresmo, now number six in the world, fell to her knees in tears and then picked herself to run towards the near-capacity crowd in search of her coach and Sylvie, her girlfriend.
"Over the past year they have helped me achieve everything. When I was going through injuries and feeling like I couldn't carry on, they helped me," she said.

In her post match speech, Davenport paid tribute to the performance the Frenchwoman had delivered on court this afternoon, describing her as one of the new top players to emerge in recent years.

Praise is evidently not something that sinks in easily with Mauresmo, who later retorted: "It doesn't really affect me if they (the top women players) accept me or not. I just want to play my tennis."