2005 Italian Open News
By Alix Ramsay | May 11, 2005
While the immediate focus of attention is pinned on Hamburg
(chaps) and Rome (chapesses), all eyes are fixed on Paris
and the French Open. In just 11 days, the hopefuls and
the hopeless will start their campaigns for the second
grand slam title of the year. And whether Lleyton Hewitt
is there to join them depends on the word from his doctors.
He announced yesterday that he had cracked a rib in a
freak accident athome - according to some sources, he fell
down the stairs - and so would not be able to compete at
the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf next week. He is hoping
to play in Paris but, until his doctors give him the all
clear, he can make no definite plans.
Hewitt has not been seen since the Pacific Life Open in
March. Playing in the final against Roger Federer, he injured
his toe and had to have a minor operation to repair the
damage. The plan had been to recuperate during the Miami
event and then hit the ground running for the clay court
season. However, the injury never healed sufficiently to
cope with the rigors of the two month swing on the red
dirt and, with less than two weeks to go before the start
of Roland Garros, and with a broken rib, it is highly unlikely
he will be making the trip to Europe. Depending on the
severity of the rib problem, he may be doubtful for Wimbledon,
too.
Still, he has plenty to keep him busy in Australia. Hewitt
and his fiancée, Bec Cartwright, announced last
week that they are expecting their first baby later this
year. Hewitt proposed to Cartwright after losing the Australian
Open final to Marat Safin. Three months later they have
told the world that Cartwright is three months pregnant.
Meanwhile, among the fit and the famous who are ready
for the French Open, Amelie Mauresmo is doing her best
to calm her nerves before traveling to Paris. Back in Rome,
one of her happiest hunting grounds, she began the defense
of her Italian Open crown with a simple 6-2, 6-0 win over
Samantha Stosur of Australia.
Mauresmo is here on her own, for once, while her coach,
Loic Courteau, sits at home with his feet up. Last week
in Berlin, it suddenly occurred to Courteau that Mauresmo
was looking confused. As she lost to Nadia Petrova, Courteau
thought that his charge did not know whether to attack
or stay patient, whether to batten down the hatches or
whether to enjoy herself. It was, he thought, about time
she decided on a course of action and stuck to it. And
the only way to do that was to work it out for herself.
So far, Mauresmo is enjoying the process and as she went
through her paces against Stosur, she enjoyed every minute
of it. "Today
I think I played a real clay court game," she said. "I
played with a lot of spin and I tried to come in when I
was able to. I'm enjoying being on the court."
Mauresmo is an infuriating player to follow. She is bright
- possibly too bright for professional sport - she is awfully
nice and she has an over-abundance of talent. Alas, she
is also desperately nervous. So many times she has arrived
in Paris as the woman to beat and then choked as soon as
she set foot on court.
This year, though, Courteau is hoping that a little independence
might do the trick. If she can do well on her own in Rome,
maybe she might relax enough to do even better with a little
support in Paris. He will be at Roland Garros to soothe
her fevered brow and Yannick Noah has also volunteered
to help. He may even come to Rome if she reaches the last
couple of rounds. But that depends on her getting past
Silvia Farina Elia in the next round. The Italian almost
defeated Mauresmo here last year in the quarterfinals and
it may take more than a relaxed frame of mind to beat the
Italian this time.
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