France’s Amelie Mauresmo won the women’s Wimbledon final, and in doing so, took revenge on Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne, who at this year’s Australian Open, retired in the second set after being thoroughly dominated, denying Mauresmo the chance to experience winning on championship point. However, at Wimbledon today, Mauresmo was not denied that honour.

After losing the first set to Henin-Hardenne 6-2, Mauresmo never really looked troubled again in the match. The major reason Mauresmo spent 7 years between Grand Slam finals (the 1999 Australian Open through the 2006 Australian Open) was that her nerves plagued her in the big matches. Those nerves weren’t visible today, and after the first set, Mauresmo never looked like losing the match. There is no doubt that the Frenchwoman was especially motivated not to lose to Henin-Hardenne after what took place at the Australian Open. It’s amazing how a rivalry where you believe that you have been wronged by a player, whom you considered your friend, will motivate you to acheive what previously seemed out of reach. With two Grand Slam titles this year and potentially ridding herself of past demons, Mauresmo has cemented her place as the top women’s tennis player in the world - for the moment at least.

Mauresmo holds the most coveted trophy in women’s tennis

Now the French soccer team has to defeat Italy in the World Cup final tomorrow to cap off what could potentially be a fantastic weekend for France.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 8th, 2006 at 10:37 pm and is filed under Tennis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.