17 Facts about Amelie Mauresmo

In continuing to honor the career of an amazing tennis player, I went and checked some online resources for facts on Amelie Mauresmo. I selected 17 tidbits on her, one corresponding to every year she spent as a tennis player. Some tidbits are really interesting. I do recall Gabriela Sabatini, my first favorite tennis player, describe Mauresmo's game as fabulous. On the same interview, Sabatini lambasted the power game dominating the women's game that the Williams sisters helped perpetuate. But before I get off topic, here are the 17 facts about Amelie Mauresmo:

#1. She decided before age 4 to play tennis after watching Yannick Noah on TV when he won the 1983 French Open.

#2. Her brother Fabien, is an engineer like his father. Mother is Francoise; father is Francis who passed away on March 2004.

#3. Played her first ITF circuit tournament in France in 1993 at the age of 13. She played her first WTA Tour match at the 1995 French Open falling in the 1st round. Her first tour win came in 1996. (Note: now that I think about it, did she play her first tournament in 1993 so she can escape the age restriction rules like what V Williams and M Hingis did? Does anyone know?)

#4. She won the 1996 junior championships at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She was the ITF junior world champion that year.

#5. She was very honored to have been picked by Yannick Noah to join the 1998 French Fed Cup team.

#6. She won her first Tour title in 1999 at Bratislava. Before that, she won 2 ITF tournaments – one in St. Raphael, France (2005) and anther in Thessaloniki, Greece (2007).

#7. 1999 was her first year in the top 10 when she reached her first Grand Slam final.  Was the only player to beat Lindsay Davenport from Sept 1999 – April 2000. Amelie is the last player that Martina Hingis defeated in a grand slam final.

#8. 2001 and 2002 were her second and third top 10 seasons. She won 6 tour titles during this period. She reached 2 grand slam semifinals but lost to the 2 dominant players at that time -  V Williams (US Open) and S Williams (Wimbledon).

#9. Helped France win its second Fed Cup championship in 2003. A life-size wax figure of her was made at the Grevin Wax Museum in Paris.

#10. Became the 1st French player – man or woman – to earn the #1 ranking, in 2004. She was the 2nd player to become #1 without winning a grand slam title. The first was Kim Clijsters.

#11. Won the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics behind Justine Henin. (Note: I saw Amelie personally during the 2004 French Open. She walked passed me with her tennis bag on her shoulder. She was with a tournament staff. She seemed to be shy, trying to smile at everyone she was passing. It was the first and last-so-far tennis tournament that I attended. I was in Paris for an assignment at that time. I passed up the chance to have taken a photo with her. Tsk, tsk!)

#12. Had her banner year in 2006 winning 2 Grand Slam championships and spending most of the year as the #1 player of the world.

#13. Was ranked in the top 5 of year end rankings consecutively for 4 straight years (2003 to 2006); only 1 of 2 players during the decade to do so. Sharapova was the other player (2004 to 2007).

#14. Received the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award in 2007 (for her incredible 2006 season). Also received the Legion of Honor Award from French President Jacques Chirac in 2007.

#15. Worst grand slam record is at her home major – the French Open at Roland Garros. She only reached 2 QF in this major. In contrast, she won Australian Open, reached 1 finals and 3 QF. At Wimbledon, she won it once and reached 3 SF. At the US Open, she reached 2 SF and 4 QF.

#16. Finished career with 25 singles titles that includes 2 Grand Slam titles. She won 3 doubles tournaments – 2 with Svetlana Kuznetsova and 1 with Chanda Rubin.

#17. Only player this decade to finish in the top 10 for six consecutive years (2001 to 2006). Announced retirement on Dec 3, 2009. Currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland with 2 golden retrievers.