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Time running out for Amelie Mauresmo
Another near miss for the French. With her 25th birthday on Monday and a new set of sharpshooters on the horizon, time is not a luxury.
Another near miss for France's Amelie Mauresmo and with her 25th birthday rolling around on Monday and a new set of sharpshooters on the horizon, time is beginning to run out.
Mauresmo was the new kid on the block five years ago when as a 19-year-old she swooped into the Australian Open final in Melbourne only to lose to Martina Hingis.
Her plain-speaking about her lesbianism and the small-talk over her muscular frame made her an instant celebrity and she freely admits that it took her some time to accommodate her the new-found fame.
But Grand Slam success was always forecast for one of the most talented shot-makers on the women's circuit.
To date it has not happened with Mauresmo's yearly torture chamber on the Roland Garros Centre Court a constant source of frustration and befuddlement for her legon of devoted French fans.
Mauresmo failed dismally once again in the French Open last month losing a shocker to Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals, but such shrewd tennis observers as Martina Navratilova and Virginia Wade tipped her to win Wimbledon.
She coasted into the semi-finals and at one set and a break up against old nemesis Serena Williams it was looking good.
But the recurrence of lower back pain, an injury that has dogged her for years, and the sheer tenacity of an out-of-form Williams turned the tide and Mauresmo was left pondering what might have been.
"It's a disappointment, of course, but it's coming, it's coming. Of course it's not there yet," she said.
"I would love to reach a final again like five years ago and I think I am getting closer and closer.
"It takes more time for me than for other players. That's just the way it is and I have to accept it."
Accepting it in the immediate means preparing to lead the French challenge at the Olympics in Athens in August and then on to the US Open in New York.
She has made at least the last eight at Flushing Meadow for the last three years including a semi-final appearance in 2002.
But will it be any different for the best French female player since the heady days of Suzanne Lenglen in the 1920s.
Mauresmo admits she can be fragile mentally and, similar to other top women players, the injuries are starting to take their toll.
But she is looking on the bright side of things.
"I'm happy about the way I am, about my life, about how things are going on the court and off the court," she said.
"I'm improving in different areas of my game, of my life. I'm following my own road."
