He planets in the tennis galaxy were aligned for women's champion Amelie Mauresmo at Australian Open 2006. Amelie Mauresmo's current WTA ranking is 1st.
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Amelie Mauresmo Celebrates with the trophy after defeating justin henin-hardene of belgium in the Wimbledon final on 08/07/06, saturday. Amelie is the first french woman to win at wimbledon since 1925.
For possibly the first time in her promising career, all the ingredients came together to form a potent mix and enable the 26-year-old to break through for her maiden Grand Slam title.
"I think everything was better," a beaming Mauresmo admitted to the assembled media with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup at her side.
"Maybe I played some better tennis at other points, but mentally I was not feeling so strong. So now I think the three main things in the game - tennis, physical and mental - all these three really came together here."
Not to mention luck. Every winner needs an ounce of luck, and Mauresmo got hers when it mattered most. Three of her seven opponents at Melbourne Park were forced to retire due to either injury or illness but in no way was the world No.3 an unworthy champion.
The four-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin-Hardenne was the last of Mauresmo's three opponents to concede. She retiried during the second set of Saturday's lopsided women's final due to a bad reaction to anti-inflammatory medication for her shoulder injury . But the Frenchwoman was in awesome form at Australian Open 2006, slowly building her rhythm towards the second week of the tournament.
Runner-up at Melbourne Park in 1999 in her only other appearance in a Grand Slam final, Mauresmo agreed she had rarely played better tennis than her first set against Henin-Hardenne where she frustrated the Belgian with looping forehands and backhands on the way to claiming it 6-1 in 33 minutes.
"I really went out there on the court, I was ready for anything, you know, for everything. I mean, I didn't know how it was going to go. I just knew, you know, I had to just focus on my game and really try to have the emotion part of the moment really on the side, which I did very well," Mauresmo said.
"I was really controlling the game pretty well. I knew exactly what I had to do walking out on the court against Justine. And overall, I was pretty relaxed. So I think everything really came together for that first set."
After just two more games in the second set, Henin-Hardenne succumbed to her stomach bug and, to the surprise of all, conceded the championship decider to Mauresmo.
Without wanting to be critical of the Belgian, Mauresmo said she was prepared to do anything and endure any situation to win the Australian Open.
"I don't want to really comment on that. I was ready to die on the court today. That's just the way I was coming out on the court this afternoon. So that's it," a convincing Mauresmo said.
And if physical preparation is one of the main ingredients in snaring a Grand Slam crown, Mauresmo had done the work. Being capable of handling the sometimes brutal heat at Melbourne Park is part of the recipe.
Mauresmo's third-round opponent, young Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek, retired due to the heat after just 31 minutes on Rod Laver Arena on the middle Saturday.
The Frenchwoman agreed it was somewhat bizarre to win a Grand Slam title after three opponents retired during the tournament (the other was Kim Clijsters, who rolled her right ankle in the third set of their semi-final), but she was happy to take her share of good fortune.
"That's the way it is. Yeah, I mean, I think it's very strange. But in the same time, you know, I think for all of them there was a reason, and that reason was maybe the physical preparation," Mauresmo said.
"Against Krajicek, she was not probably ready to go under very high temperature. And Kim probably got a little tired. She had already the hip was not right. And then today, you know, I think I'm just wondering maybe the nerves got in also. I'm just still wondering, you know, what happened."
Henin-Hardenne's decision to retire early in the second set was unexpected for all, and it took a moment to sink in for Mauresmo that she'd finally won a Slam. Soon enough the tears came and the jubilation remained.
"I guess it would have been probably different or the way I reacted would have been probably different if the match went till the end," she said.
"But the joy is here. And, really, again, it's tough for Justine, but I just also think I was playing some great tennis today."
It's been a long journey for Mauresmo since she emerged on the tennis scene by reaching the final at Melbourne Park seven years ago.
A constant presence at the business end of Grand Slams in recent years, this was a particularly sweet victory.
The Frenchwoman bought a very expensive bottle of wine a few years ago with a view to opening it with a sense of satisfaction once she finally clinched a title. Her next tournament is in Paris but she plans to celebrate the title with some close friends.
"I'm sure my friends will find many ways for me to celebrate," Mauresmo said.
"I think I will want to share with people that are here, my staff that are here working with me today, that are a huge part of this title, but also with people that stayed home and couldn't come or didn't have, you know, the opportunity to come."
"And concerning the bottle, it's not going to be enough for everybody, so I will probably choose the closest people. We will have, I'm sure, more than one."
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