Nervous Amelie through in three
Nervous Amelie through in three
By Benjamin Adler
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Amelie Mauresmo is one step closer to her Holy Grail, a first-ever French
Open singles title.
But against Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues on Wednesday afternoon, she was
victim of the same hesitation, imprecision and nerves as in her first round
win over Ludmila Cervanova. Mauresmo was even taken to a third set before
prevailing 6-0 4-6 6-1 in one hour, 56 minutes.
When the Frenchwoman returned to her chair after 26 minutes of play with the
score at 6-0, both she and all the youngsters crammed into the stands on
Kid’s Day were probably thinking it would be all over in under an hour.
Things were, after all, going to plan against a girl she had soundly beaten
in the third round of the Australian Open in January, and who had never been
beyond the first round at Roland Garros until this year.
But this is tennis, and a second set is always the perfect opportunity to
start afresh, which is just what the girl from Valencia did. Employing a
far more entrepreneurial approach, the 67-ranked player broke Mauresmo,
grew in confidence, cut out the silly unforced errors, and before she knew
it she was back in the match.
Medina Garrigues calls on the physio
Mauresmo rallied to 4-3 but was clearly rattled and Medina Garrigues broke
again to clinch the set.
Now it was Mauresmo’s turn to take the bull by the horns. She opted for a
more aggressive approach, attacked the net more and immediately had the
Spaniard on the back foot. At 2-1 down, Medina Garrigues called in the
physio for a problem with her left thigh, and handicapped by the injury,
she conceded her next service game. That was all the encouragement Mauresmo
needed to see out the match.
Mauresmo fans will be rightly concerned that she has not brought her
‘A-game’ with her so far this year, but at least she is through and
has time to put things right. With top seed and defending champ Justine
Henin-Hardenne losing today, the road is clear all the way to the final.
Mauresmo just needs to stay on it.
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