By Foster Niumata
MELBOURNE - The first thing Amelie Mauresmo did after she cracked a one-hand backhand winner past an oncoming Lindsay Davenport was to drop to her knees, which is a reaction more commonly associated with winning a grand slam event.
What Mauresmo had done was win a semifinal, and there
were good reasons for her temporary loss of balance; she had been a break down in the final set, she was into her first final of a slam, and she had overcome the world No 1 whose Australian Open record takes a lot longer to examine than her own.
Davenport was a semifinalist last year, twice a quarter-finalist and first played here in 1993 when Mauresmo was 13 and wearing prescription glasses.
Mauresmo first played here as a senior last year and reached the third round, her best result at any slam until now.
Davenport couldn't believe Mauresmo was just 19 after the Frenchwoman ranked 29 gunned down the United States Open champion 4-6 7-5 7-5 in a two-hour boilover.
"Her shoulders looked huge to me, they must have grown," said Davenport.
"A couple of times I thought I was playing a guy. She hits it so hard and with so much topspin. Women's tennis isn't normally played like that."
Forgive Davenport for speaking while still in a daze, and forgetting women's tennis is full of big-bicep, ball-smashing Amazons, not unlike herself. Before she lost 15 pounds round her hips and shot to the top of the rankings, Davenport was nick-named Linebacker. Her comments were regarded as compliments by Mauresmo.
"Serena [Williams] has got bigger shoulders," said the comparatively elfin Martina Hingis, who brushed aside serial grunter Monica Seles 6-2 6-4 and likes her chances of winning a third straight Australian title tomorrow with Davenport ousted.
But more astonishing than Mauresmo's rippled shoulders was her poise against the world's best player who hadn't dropped a set in nine matches in Australia (she won the Sydney title beating Hingis).
"I had my mind clear, I knew what I had to do," said Mauresmo, who has felt destined since she saved two match-points at 6-7 2-5 against Corina Morariu in the first round.
* In practice before the Australian Open junior singles, Te Awamutu's Leanne Baker got a hiding from Wynne Prakusya, an Indonesian pounder who reached last year's Open final unseeded.
Yesterday, Baker defeated Prakusya 7-5 3-6 6-4 to reach her first quarter-finals in a junior grand slam tournament. Today Baker, seeded 12, plays ninth seed Katarina Basternakova, a 16-year-old Slovak.
Pictured: Unseeded Amelie Mauresmo, of France, during her semifinal win over top seed Lindsay Davenport.
By Foster Niumata
MELBOURNE - The first thing Amelie Mauresmo did after she cracked a one-hand backhand winner past an oncoming Lindsay Davenport was to drop to her knees, which is a reaction more commonly associated with winning a grand slam event.
What Mauresmo had done was win a semifinal, and there
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.