Amelie Mauresmo goes into the French Open as top seed for the first time, but her hopes of finally banishing the demons that have haunted her at Roland Garros are endangered by a new and unexpected threat.
Twelve months ago, no-one would have given credence to the idea that former tennis queen Martina Hingis could still win the one Grand Slam title that has eluded her.
At that time Hingis had been retired from the sport for three years, a victim of mental and physical burnout at the age of 22.
But twelve months on, with the wounds healed and the batteries recharged, she returned to the fray in January.
Most pundits said the slightly built Swiss player would not be able to stay with the latest wave of big-hitters, but she has proved them all wrong.
Hingis reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in January and her inspiring title win in the Italian Open on Sunday has suddenly propelled her into the role of a potential winner in Paris.
”I always like it [Roland Garros] because it plays more like a hard court,” said Hingis, who is now ranked world number 14.
”And I love the city [Paris]. The stadiums are very nice; they always play well. Now I just hope to play the same tennis as I did this week.
”They say never give up hope and keep fighting, and here I am,” said the champion. ”It’s just great to be back on top of the game.”
This time around, Hingis can also count on support from the notoriously hard-to-please Parisian crowd.
A five-times Grand Slam winner while still a teenager (three Australian Opens and one apiece at Wimbledon and the US Open) Hingis is best known at Roland Garros for the petulant tantrums she threw in losing to Steffi Graf in the 1999 final.
But since her return, she has carved out a new reputation for herself — one of bravery and modesty in the face of the odds instead of arrogance and lack of respect for her rivals.
Still, were she to meet Mauresmo in the final, there is no doubt where the sympathies of the fans would lie.
Despite the repeated failures to conquer her nerves on the slow clay courts she was brought up on, failing to make it past the quarterfinals after 11 attempts, Mauresmo remains hugely popular in France.
And she now knows she has what it takes to win a Grand Slam title, having triumphed at the Australian Open in January.
This time last year, Mauresmo was looking for inspiration from the last Frenchman to win in Paris, Yannick Noah, but this year she has kept a very low profile.
”Having the kind of wins I have had has put me in a position where I’m pretty relaxed now in the way I handle every tournament,” she said recently.
”At least I’m not going to have those sorts of questions any more,” she says, referring to the capture of her first Grand Slam title.
That statement, however, was followed by a crushing straight sets defeat to reigning French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne at the German Open and then withdrawal from the Italian Open last week complaining of tiredness.
Chances are, however, she will be fighting fit again for what could be the pinnacle of her career.
The same cannot be said for some others among the women’s elite.
Former world number ones Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport have already pulled out with long-term injuries, while health concerns hover over Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne and the woman she beat in last year’s final, Mary Pierce.
On the other hand, Russia’s Nadia Petrova, twice a semifinalist in Paris, is in the best form of her career and is up to a career-high three in the rankings, while compatriot and former US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova has shown real signs of getting back to her best.
Carrying the weight of United States hopes in the absence of Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and sister Serena will be another former world number one, Venus Williams.
Venus has been active in the build-up to Roland Garros, but it would be a huge surprise if she were to go all the way on her least-favoured surface to repeat her defiant triumph at Wimbledon last July. — AFP
