TBT 2006: Amelie Mauresmo makes Slam breakthrough at Australian Open

The Amelie Mauresmo backhand instantly dazzled, a wonderfully shaped one-hander that could strike boldly from just about anywhere. While still in her teens, Mauresmo made an impressive run to the final of the 1999 Australian Open. Unseeded, the 19-year-old Frenchwoman shocked the world with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the semis. Based on that magical Melbourne effort, it seemed her second trip to the final was certain to happen rapidly.

It didn’t. To be sure, over the next six years, Mauresmo established herself as a player to be reckoned with. Mauresmo won not just with her sizzling backhand, but also with adroit net play and an increasingly improved forehand. By the end of 2005, Mauresmo had earned 19 WTA singles titles and even held the No. 1 ranking for five weeks in 2004. Yet when it came to the majors, Mauresmo went no further than the semis, advancing that far five times from ’99 to ’05 .

A significant triumph came in November 2005, when Mauresmo won the season-ending WTA Tour Championships. Over nearly three hours, she beat her compatriot, Mary Pierce, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4. She later credited winning that title as a superb confidence boost.

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Two months later, in Melbourne, Mauresmo was seeded third. In the semis, she played second-seeded Kim Clijsters, who just that past September had made a breakthrough of her own, at the US Open winning her first Grand Slam singles title. Mauresmo and Clijsters each fought brilliantly. Clijsters won the first set, 7-5. Mauresmo took the second 6-2 and led 3-2, 15-love—at which point Clijsters withdrew with an injured right ankle. Said Mauresmo, “We had such a great battle . . . it’s a little bit of an unfinished match, but that’s the way it is sometimes.”

So it was, on this day, seven long and often frustrating years after Mauresmo’s first major final, she entered Rod Laver Arena to play a second. The opponent was another Belgian, Justine Henin. Like Mauresmo, Henin also owned a captivating one-handed backhand and all-court playing style. The two were quite familiar with one another, Henin owning a slight 4-3 edge—her most notable win being a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the gold-medal match of the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

In Melbourne, it was very different. Mauresmo was in control from the start, thoroughly dominating the court by winning 19 of the first 24 points. Henin in the first set only got in 29 percent of her first serves. In 33 minutes, Mauresmo won it, 6-1.

In the second set, Mauresmo’s momentum continued. She broke Henin and held. During that second game, after winning a 32-shot rally, Henin called for the trainer. In the next game, with Mauresmo leading 30-love, Henin approached the umpire and said, “I’m sorry I can’t keep going.” Championship to Mauresmo—6-1, 2-0, retired.

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Said Henin after the match, “My stomach was very upset. And then last night, I didn't sleep a lot because it got worse and worse. Two weeks now, I had to take anti-inflammatories for my shoulder, and that killed me a little bit. Pretty sensitive. But I had to for my shoulder. Now I got on my stomach, and then I had no legs today. I couldn't move. When the stomach is so upset and so inflamed, you know, you just don't have any energy.”

Though the journey was dominant, the exceptionally subdued ending cast Mauresmo’s moment of deliverance in an odd light.

“Of course, it was very strange for everybody: for Justine, for me, for the tournament, for everybody,” said Mauresmo. “Things turn around at some point, and I had some tough moments myself. I just really take it as it comes. That’s the way it is.”

Later that summer, the two met again, this time in the final of Wimbledon. But this one went the distance, Mauresmo winning it, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Said Mauresmo that day in London, “It felt great in Australia. It feels still great here. Of course, the way it ended is different, so I had this final moment, especially this final point I was talking about. But then the rest is great.”

Mauresmo never reached another Grand Slam final.