Mauresmo named co-director of Paris tournament

Former tour star Amelie Mauresmo has been named co-director of the Open GDF SUEZ. The event, which is played indoors on a hard court, is a premier tournament on the WTA tour. The other tournament director is Regis Brunet.

The 2011 Paris indoor tournament will be played February 7-13. Mauresmo won the tournament three times. Perhaps the most dramatic of those victories occurred in 2009, the year the Frenchwoman retired. For her third Paris victory, she defeated Elena Dementieva in the final.

Miscellany

Kim Clijsters reports that she is pain-free. Clijsters developed an infection on the bottom of her foot after undergoing a mole-removal procedure.

Justine Henin, by the way, reports that she is also pain-free.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands tells us that the most requested cocktail from her personal bar is a concoction called the Italian Wedding Cake. You can get details in her latest USA Today blog entry.

Coco Vandeweghe says she originally considered playing college basketball, but changed to tennis because she did not really enjoy playing on a team.

Amelie Mauresmo was on hand recently to celebrate Yannick Noah's 50th birthday, and you should check out this cake.

Quote of the day

"Working with Amelie for two weeks has been nice, we discuss my game a lot and outside the court I feel more comfortable. I know the job I have to do, I feel very relaxed, so I have to say thank you to Amelie."

Eastbourne champion Michael Llodra, who hired Amelie Mauresmo as a grass court consultant

Miscellany

Longines Future Tennis Aces Tournament, which featured 16 12-and-under players, was held at Roland Garros during the French Open. The winner of the girls' competition was Aleksandra Pospelova of Russia. The USA's Lauren Fishbein made it to the semifinals (and is shown in the photo with her tennnis idol, Serena Williams). Pospelova also played in a mixed doubles match with partner Gustavo Kuerten. Longines is the official timekeeper of the French Open.

Amelie Mauresmo has been added to Michael Llodra's team as an advisor during the grass court season.

Chris Evert will be inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame on August 16.

Anastasia Rodionova recently did a fashion shoot for Muze. (And I don't usually pass on this type of information, but it's being talked about, and--considering the players--I thought it was too funny not to mention that Rodionova and Aravane Rezai, who played each other in Birmingham, may be the first pair of players on the tour to get into it with each other--and with the umpire--during the warmup.)

Sania Mirza says she never said she would retire in two years. She says her remarks were misinterpreted by the press. Imagine that.

Quote of the day

"I'd rather see her watching from the stands than see her on the other side of the net."

Elena Dementieva, referring to Amelie Mauresmo

Mauresmo honored in Paris

Retired player Amelie Mauresmo was honored yesterday during the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris. French players, including Tatiana Golovin and Nathalie Dechy, were on hand to celebrate Mauresmo's career, and they were joined by Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder, Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, and Alisa Kleybanova.

Dementieva made some very nice remarks, as did Schiavone, who told Amelie, "You were my idol." Mauresmo was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and special T-shirts were distributed.

A tearful Mauresmo responded: "I'm going to miss you all. I have one thing to say, thank you! It may be simple, and it may be brief, but all the greatest moments in my career have happened here."

Here is a video from the ceremony.

See how she runs

Amelie Mauresmo is going to run in the New York marathon. She has engaged her former fitness trainer to help her train. This is the woman, you'll recall, who trained during the off-season by climbing mountains.

Mauresmo says that, in the future, she would like to host a television interview show and be a tennis tournament director.

Fed Cup miscellany

Sandra Harwitt is blogging from France this weekend, and there are other writers who are contributing to the Fed Cup blog, which is worth reading. For example, we learn from the Fed Cup blog that Craig Willis, the master of ceremonies in Adelaide, remarked that Rennae Stubbs has been playing in Fed Cup for so long that--when she started--the Dead Sea was merely sick. Ba dum chhh...

We also learn from the blog that former French player Sophie Amiach, vice president of Fed Cup France, is selling the second edition of the softcover book, Les Joueuses Francaises De Fed Cup, at the matches this weekend The book, which is sponsored by Lacoste, will also be available on the FFT website.

And speaking of the French, Amelie Mauresmo is in the stands this weekend, cheering the French Fed Cup team.

"I had my chances in the second set, but psychology played a big part in the final outcome," Ana Ivanovic said about her Fed Cup match against Svetlana Kuznetsova, which she lost.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands' victory over Alize Cornet is her first-ever Fed Cup win.

Mauresmo to be honored Wednesday night in Paris

The recently retired Amelie Mauresmo, who is also the 2009 Open GDF Suez champion, will be honored Wednesday night in a ceremony at the tournament.

Serena Williams will not be in attendance. Williams has withdrawn from the tournament because of a leg injury she incurred at the Australian Open. Elena Dementieva, last year's finalist, takes over as the number 1 seed.

Mauresmo on video--a fitting tribute

This is the final video in the series. Please enjoy this lovely blend of Amelie and the Indigo Girls. Perhaps you'd like to leave a comment for the creator of this touching tribute to a great sportswoman.

Mauresmo on video--Wimbledon

Amelie's greatest moment came at Wimbledon in 2006.

Mauresmo on video--oops...

A reader of this blog was able to find what I could not. Thanks to Paulina, you, too, can see Amelie fall out of her chair.

Mauresmo on video--"I am what I am"

Amelie was one of the featured athletes in Reebok's "I am what I am" campaign.

Mauresmo on video--Australian Open championship

Winning the 2006 Australian Open was one of Amelie's greatest achievements.

Mauresmo on video

During the next several days, I'll be posting some videos of Amelie Mauresmo, who retired from professional tennis yesterday. I'm sorry to report that the video of Amelie falling off the chair during a press conference is no longer available. That bit of unintentional slapstick only added to her charm.

To start, here is the famous slice backhand in slow motion.

Au revoir, Amelie--the pleasure was all ours

original image courtesy of after atalanta

Amelie Mauresmo retired from professional tennis today, telling those gathered at her press conference that she could no longer put in the hard work that is required to play at the top of the game. The 30-year-old Frenchwoman's announcement was hardly a surprise; she said earlier in the year that she was considering retirement.

"I was lucky enough to have an exceptional career and to experience very strong feelings on the court," Mauresmo said. "I lifted trophies in every city in the world, and I lived ten magical and unbelievable years."

I can't remember when I first noticed Amelie Mauresmo. I do recall, though, that she very quickly became my favorite player on the tour. Her grace, shot variety, court intelligence, and wit drew me to her and made me a big fan. And of course, there was that gorgeous backhand with the deadly slice.

Each generation produces a player of superior grace: Maria Bueno, Evonne Goolagong, Hana Mandlikova, and Gabriela Sabatini all engaged in the dance of tennis, as well as the game. Then came Mauresmo. A sports writer once said of the Frenchwoman, "Tennis flows from her," and that is a wonderfully concise description of what Mauresmo's elegant game is all about.

When Mauresmo was only four, she watched Frenchman Yannick Noah win the French Open, and she decided that she would become a tennis player. It wasn't easy for her. For a long time, she had to deal with a fragile back, a problem she got around by changing her service motion, which then led to other players doing likewise. More significant, however, was Mauresmo's fragile court psyche. For a long time, she was considered the biggest head case on the women's tour, and Roland Garros was the scene of her shakiest mentality. Mauresmo is wildly popular in France, and the presumed pressure on her to win the French Open was more than she could handle.

It wasn't that Mauresmo was weak on clay. She won big tournaments like Rome and Berlin, continually fueling French hope for victory at Roland Garros. But it was not to be; rather, it was on an indoor court, a bouncy hard court, and a grass court that the French star created her greatest victories.

Mauresmo turned pro in 1993, and in 1999--19 years old and unseeded--she was the finalist at the Australian Open, losing in straight sets to Martina Hingis. She also made the top 10 for the first time that year. In 2002, Mauresmo made it to the semifinals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and lost to Serena and Venus Williams, respectively. The next year, she led France to Fed Cup victory.

Hampered by injuries to her back, leg, knee, rib, and ankle, Mauresmo missed a lot of tennis, but nevertheless continued to win important tournaments and to make consistently high showings at other tournaments. In 2004, she became the first French player, male or female, to be ranked number 1 in the world, but held the position for only five weeks. She made it to the Wimbledon semifinals and lost to Serena Williams again. At the end of the year, Mauresmo scored 3-0 in round-robin play at the year-end championsips. One of her victories was over Maria Sharapova, who won the tournamnent.

The next year--still plagued by back and adductor injuries--she reached the Wimbledon semifinals again, this time losing to Lindsay Davenport. Then, at the end of 2005, came what was later seen as a major breakthrough: Mauresmo, having announced that she felt "burned out," nevertheless proceeded to win the year-end championships, defeating Mary Pierce in the final. The Frenchwoman took the confidence that came from that victory into her 2006 season, which--for some of us--became the Year of Amelie.

Mauresmo was number 1 in the world for most of 2006, which began with a subdued and bittersweet victory in Melbourne. In the second set of the Australian Open final, with Mauresmo leading 6-1, 2-0, her opponent, Justine Henin, retired because of illness. After waiting so long to win a major, the Frenchwoman was denied hearing "Game, set, match--Mauresmo!" Instead of falling to the ground or jumping into the air, she walked over to Henin, sat down, and consoled her, then addressed the crowd with relative restraint.

However, Mauresmo was to get her sweetest victory of all later that year, when she and Henin competed in the final of Wimbledon, and Mauresmo took the title, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. With this win, she became the first Frenchwoman in the Open Era to hold the Venus Rosewater Cup. In her interview, Mauresmo suggested that fans stop talking about her nerves. I will never forget the moment she won; later, I bought champagne to celebrate the occasion.

Many of us assumed 2007 would also be a great year for Amelie, but--as so often happens in sports--a bit of bad luck all but ruined her season. She had to withdraw from several tournaments because of an emergency appendectomy. Following her recovery, an adductor strain (most likely caused by insufficient post-operative healing) knocked her out of both Toronto and the U.S. Open, and she finished the year as number 18 in the world.

In 2008, Mauresmo suffered repeated injury to her thigh. She parted ways with long-time coach Loic Courteau, who is also a close friend, and hired Hugo Lecoq. She was obviously low in confidence, and she finished the year as number 24 in the world. 2009 looked like it would be a year of resurgence when she won her 25th title in Paris in February. On her way to victory, Mauresmo defeated Agnieszka Radwanska, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva. "She's back!" we thought, but that French victory was to be her last. Mauresmo continued to deal with injuries to her thigh and her abdomen, and--having played some of her best tennis in New Haven--she ended her season early, and finished this year just outside the top 20.

The woman who best exhibits what tennis commentator Mary Carillo calls "French flair" has had an impressive career. She won Paris, Philadelphia, Berlin, and Rome twice apiece, and she also had victories in Linz, Warsaw, Dubai, Nice, Amelia Island, Sydney, and Bratislava. Mauresmo also won the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp three times within a five-year span, which earned her a diamond-encrusted racquet.

Mauresmo won two doubles titles with friend Svetlana Kuznetsova, and one with Chanda Rubin. She was on the French Fed Cup team for a total of nine years, and she was also on the 2000 and 2004 French Olympic teams. In 2004, she won an Olympic silver medal in singles. In 2007, Mauresmo received the French Legion of Honor award.

An avid collector, the articulate Frenchwoman was always ready to discuss fine red wines in her interviews. She went on a difficult annual mountain climb to prepare for each tennis season, and she has long been a familiar figure, roaring through the streets on her motorcycle, in both Geneva and Paris.

She can also be quite funny. Once, after winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal, a sports writer reminded her that there would be no French-speaking crowd to encourage her in Flushing Meadows. "Well," Mauresmo deadpanned, "there's a really big French-speaking crowd in Paris, and that hasn't helped me at all." On another occasion, she described the closeness of the French players as being similar to the closeness of the Russians. "We all go out and eat together at a restaurant like they do...but it's a smaller restaurant."

In 2007, I was very excited to learn that Mauresmo had entered the Family Circle Cup, which I attend every year. There is an award-winning vineyard where I live, and I made arrangements with the tournament to deliver a bottle of very good red wine to Amelie. I was so looking forward to meeting her, but she had to withdraw following her emergency surgery. Several big names withdrew that year, but it was Mauresmo's withdrawal that disappointed me the most.

Retirements are always sad for fans, and I've been through my share of them. To have my favorite player retire, however, creates a special kind of sadness. Amelie Mauresmo was a class act, on and off the court, and I was always proud to be her fan. But perhaps more significant is the fact that her departure also accentuates the rapid disappearance of the stylish, precision-based kind of tennis that is filled with strategy and variety--the kind of tennis that is a joy to watch. Mauresmo could volley, chip, charge, slice, and spin an opponent into total frustration, all the while performing with exceptionally graceful athleticism.

I know I speak for many when I say that Amelie will be missed, and will be remembered with great fondness. She was a model sportswoman who brought intelligence and style to the court, and who overcame difficult obstacles in order to become one of the most gracious and respected champions of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Mauresmo through for the season

A little over a week ago, Amelie Mauresmo decided not to play in Tokyo and Beijing, and now she has withdrawn from Linz and Luxembourg. Retirement, of course, is a real possibility, but for now, Mauresmo is just taking some time off to think about her future.

Wozniacki and Vesnina to meet in Pilot Pen final

Defending champion and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki had to play her semifinal match against 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta on an indoor court at Yale when it became obvious that the rain in New Haven was not going to stop. Only 300 spectators could fit, and a tin scoreboard was used. Wozniacki defeated Los Angeles champion Pennetta 6-4, 6-1.

The other semifinal, also played indoors, featured 8th seed Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Vesnina. Vesnina defeated Mauresmo 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

Because of the rain delay, neither the U.S.'s ESPN2 or Tennis TV broadcast the matches, and the electronic scoreboard was down, so I have no idea what actually happened in either match, though I've been busy making some reasonable guesses, especially about the second match.

Wozniacki has a 2-1 record against Vesnina, and on hard courts, a 1-1 record. A tiebreaker in Wozniacki's favor gave the Pilot Pen defending champion a win over the Russian in the semifinals of the 2009 Ponte Vedra Beach tournament (won by Wozniacki), a clay court event. Earlier this year, Vesnina defeated Wozniacki in three sets on a hard court in Auckland.

In doubles, top seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated Jill Craybas and Lisa Raymond, and will play Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka in the final.

Mauresmo slices and volleys her way to New Haven semifinal

The match wasn't pretty, but Amelie Mauresmo's tennis was often beautiful in her Pilot Pen quarterfinal match against top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova tonight. Sometimes looking like the great Mauresmo of 2006, the 8th-seeded Frenchwoman did everything she could think of--slice, serve and volley, increase topspin--to stay in the contest with French Open champion Kuznetsova. She also served well, which helped her quite a bit.

The first set was tight, and Mauresmo--always a good bet in tiebreaks--won it 11-9 in a tiebreak, saving five set points along the way. In the second set, she looked sluggish, and Kuznetsova won rather easily, 6-2. But in the third, all of Mauresmo's energy and finesse returned, as Kuznetsova made more and more errors. Serving at 5-3 for the match, Mauresmo held at love, but only after delivering one more superb backhand down the line.

Both players made plenty of unforced errors, and Mauresmo hit only half the number of winners her opponent hit. Despite the messiness of much of the mactch, however, there were some highly entertaining rallies, especially with Mauresmo spending so much time at the net.

In the semifinals, Mauresmo will play Elena Vesnina, who defeated Anna Chakvetadze 6-1, 7-5. The other semifinal match will be played between 3rd seed Flavia Pennetta and 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki. Pennetta defeated Magdelena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-2, and Wozniacki defeated Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-3.

In doubles, Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka defeated Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko when Kateryna had to retire because of a thigh strain.