Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Amelie Mauresmo fact file

July 08, 2006 21:38 IST

Factbox on Amelie Mauresmo, who became the first Frenchwoman to win the Wimbledon singles title since 1925 on Saturday.

Nationality: French

Age: 27

Lives: Geneva, Switzerland

Plays: Right-handed

Grand Slam titles: Two (2006 Australian Open, 2006 Wimbledon)

Current singles ranking: 1

Started playing tennis at age four after being inspired by Yannick Noah winning the 1983 French Open.

1995: Qualified for the French Open as a 15-year-old.

1998: Made first WTA tour final in Berlin, losing to Conchita Martinez. Finished year ranked 29th.

1999: Breakthrough year on the tour. Made final of Australian Open as unseeded player, beating top seed Lindsay Davenport before losing 6-2 6-3 to Martina Hingis. Won first career title at Bratislava. Finished in top-10 (10th) for first time.

2000: Won Sydney International beating world number one Hingis in semi-finals and number two Davenport in final. Spent seven weeks off tour with lower back injury. Returned to tour in May but forced to withdraw from tournaments in July-September with recurrence of back injury.

2001: Had 16-match winning streak taking three successive titles at Paris, Nice and Amelia Island. Surpassed Mary Pierce as top-ranked Frenchwoman. Made quarter-finals at U.S. Open. Finished the year ranked ninth.

2002: Made at least the quarter-finals in 14 of the 17 tournaments she played including advancing to the final four at Wimbledon and U.S. Open. Fourth player in Open era outside the top-four to make successive Grand Slam semi-finals, losing to Serena Williams at Wimbledon and Venus Williams in New York.

2003: Consistent season highlighted by first top-five finish and leading France to second Fed Cup title. Rib injury forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon. Made quarter-finals at Roland Garros and U.S. Open. Won titles at Warsaw and Philadelphia.  

2004: Won five titles and made the quarter-finals at Australian Open, Roland Garros and U.S. Open and semi-finals at Wimbledon. Suffered back injury in fourth round at Melbourne Park handing Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga a walkover. Injury forced withdrawal from six further tournaments. Won silver medal at Athens Olympics, losing to Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne. First Frenchwoman to attain number one ranking in September.

2005: Won four titles and finished inside the top-three for second year in a row. Finally broke through in "big" events when she won the season-ending WTA championships in Los Angeles, beating Pierce in the final.

2006: Won first Grand Slam title when she beat Henin-Hardenne after the Belgian retired through illness. Was the third match she had won due to opponent retiring, beating Michaella Krajicek (third round) and Kim Clijsters in the semi-final.

Captured second Grand Slam title when she beat Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final, thus becoming the first Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925 to win the singles title at the All England Club.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.