2005 Italian Open News
By Alix Ramsay | May 15, 2005
If only the French Open could be held in Rome. Amelie Mauresmo
would love it - and probably win it, too. Put the remarkably
gifted Mauresmo on clay, grass or cement almost anywhere
in the world and she has the ability to beat the very best
in the business. But put her on clay in Paris and she folds.
On a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon in the Eternal City,
Mauresmo retained her Italian Open title, beating Patty
Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was her fifth appearance in the
final in six years and her second trophy at the Foro Italico.
Mauresmo loves Rome and, as she pointed out, once the local
players have all been beaten, Rome seems to love her, too.
The clay in Rome is as near as it gets to the clay at the
French Open. The crowds are loud, enthusiastic and knowledgeable
(not unlike the Parisians) and the place reeks of tradition
and history (not unlike Roland Garros). In theory, anyone
who does well here should do well in Paris and yet it never
works out that way for Mauresmo.
This year she came to Italy unsure of her place in the
pecking order. An injury at the start of the clay court
season had limited her to just one appearance prior to the
Italian Open and she felt her game was in a mess. Gradually
she pulled her form and her confidence together as the week
wore on and by the time she was ready for the final, all
seemed well with her world. That's when the jitters set
in again.
For a set and a half, Mauresmo was trailing in Schnyder's
wake. She could do nothing right and her attack was feeble
while her defense was frail. Just to make matters worse,
a line call went against her. Mauresmo was livid while Romano
Grillotti, the umpire, was unmoved - so Mauresmo exploded.
Arguing her case loud and long, she could not convince Grillotti
that he had made a mistake.
As it turned out, that moment of fury was the making of
Mauresmo. Finally rid of her doubts and insecurities, she
raced through the second set and on to the title. With only
the injustice of it all to worry about, she was free to
play her game.
"I stopped playing, Patty stopped playing," Mauresmo
explained. "I showed him the mark was out. It's pretty
strange, he's over there in the chair and I'm right there
knowing exactly where it is. That's pretty upsetting. But
I was able to leave it behind me and focus on the next points."
Schnyder, a likeable lass, took it all in stride and even
though the final ran away from her, she reckoned the best
player won in the end. "She's a real champion and today
she deserved to win," she said generously. That said,
Schnyder fancies her chances in Paris. Back in the top 10
for
the first time in six years, she is fit, confident and eager
for the challenge.
"I've always been a fighter," she said, "but
when I didn't believe in myself, it looked like I was giving
up and I didn't want the victory. But now that I believe
more in myself and my tennis, it looks much better for me."
She puts her revival on, in part, to her marriage to Rainer
Hofmann who also doubles as her coach. Together for the
past six years, they finally tied the knot in December 2003.
"It gives me a lot of power, a lot of energy,"
she said. "It's just a great, great thing."
The new self belief and confidence will, she hopes, place
her as one of the contenders for the French Open title.
Certainly in her current form, she should make her mark
there. But, Schnyder thinks, there is always Mauresmo to
worry about.
"She always goes in to the French as a favorite,"
Schnyder said. "But I don't know what it takes for
her to play her best there. It's definitely a difficult
thing for her. I just hope that she can do it once."
How Mauresmo would love that. She knows that she gets nervous
when the tournament starts and she knows that a desperate
nation is begging her to win - and it all gets to be too
much. She has tried every trick in the book to settle her
nerves but, so far, nothing has worked. This year she is
hoping that she can learn from her week in Rome. Arriving
with little expectation, she ended up a champion. Maybe
that is the mind set to use at Roland Garros.
"I just took this as a relaxed tournament," she
said. "And then finally, I'm here with the trophy on
the last day. Maybe I should do that at every tournament
I go to, especially the grand slams and the French Open."
It is a great theory but one that will take some putting
into practice. Still, she has eight days to enjoy before
the French Open begins, eight days to celebrate her Italian
title. Why can't all tournaments be like this.
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