Amelie Mauresmo Retires
Amelie Mauresmo the tennis champion from France is officially hanging up her racquet. The former No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion made the announcement at a press conference in France.
"I don’t want to train anymore," a teary Mauresmo said. "I had to make a decision, which became evident in the last few months and weeks. When you grow older, it’s more difficult to stay at the top. It’s a bit sad, but this is the right decision. I was lucky enough to have an exceptional career and to experience very strong feelings on the court."
30 year old Mauresmo won 25 titles including the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. She also held the No. 1 player for 39 weeks, but the last two years she has suffered with several injuries.
Early Years
Mauresmo was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She began playing tennis at the age of four, after being inspired by Yannick Noah's win in the 1983 French Open on television. It was after his win that her parents bought her her first tennis racket. Later on in 1998 Yannick Noah picked her on the French team for the Fed Cup.
In 1996, Mauresmo captured both the junior French Open and Wimbledon titles. She was named 1996 Junior World Champion by the International Tennis Federation.
2009
At the Brisbane International tournament, Mauresmo defeated World No. 177 Jelena Dokic in the first round 7–6(9), 7–6(5) before defeating French compatriot Julie Coin in the second round 5–7, 6–2, 7–6(11) in 3 hours, 14 minutes. The fifth-seeded Mauresmo then upset top-seeded Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–2, before retiring in her semifinal match against the third-seeded Frenchwoman, Marion Bartoli, while trailing 0–4 in the first set. At the Australian Open, Mauresmo lost in the third round to Victoria Azarenka.
Mauresmo won her first tournament since 2007 by defeating Elena Dementieva in the final of the Open GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris.
Mauresmo lost in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, to Li Na 7–5, 6–2. The next event on the WTA tour was another Premier Mandatory tournament, the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Mauresmo was seeded 20th there and lost in the fourth round to unseeded Australian Samantha Stosur 6–4, 6–4, but ended up winning the Doubles event with her tennis partner Svetlana Kuznetsova after ousting the world champions on their way to the cup.
Recently, Mauresmo delivered a great win to the France Fed Cup team by winning her single matches as well as the doubles match in the semifinal round against the Slovakian team 3–2.
At the Madrid Masters, Mauresmo defeated Zheng Jie in the second round 6–2, 7–5. She then came from behind to defeat Elena Dementieva 1–6, 6–4, 6–2, and Ágnes Szávay 5–7, 6–1, 6–1 in the third round and quarterfinal respectively. She lost against fast-rising teenager star Caroline Wozniacki 7–6(1) 6–3 in the semifinals.
Mauresmo lost against Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6–4, 6–3 in the first round of the French Open.
Mauresmo was the 17th seed at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She opened with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over Melinda Czink. She then defeated Kristina Kucova 6-3, 6-3. She used good form to beat #15 Flavia Pennetta in the third round. Her fourth round match against the number 1 seed Dinara Safina became a part of tennis history as it was the first competitive match in which the new, multi-million pound roof was closed due to rain. Mauresmo went on to lose the match 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.
At the 2009 US Open, Mauresmo was the 17th seed, but lost to unseed Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-0 in the second round.
Mauresmo announced at a press conference on 8 October, 2009 that she is considering retiring from tennis. She decided to scratch her last two tournaments of the season, at Linz and Luxembourg.
On 3 December 2009, she officially announced her retirement from tennis at a press conference in Paris, France.
