Australian Open: Mauresmo Covets Her First Grand Slam

Amélie Mauresmo is a contented woman. For more than a year and a half now, she has enjoyed the sort of stability in her life that had previously eluded her. And over the next 10 days she hopes to rid herself of the tag she shares with Belgium's Kim Clijsters of being the most talented of the leading players not to have won a grand slam title.

The French both love her and are frustrated by her, recognising that her potential has far outshone her achievements. It had all seemed so different back in 1999 when, as a 19-year-old, she reached the Australian Open final, having defeated Lindsay Davenport in the semi-final with a display of quite wonderful attacking tennis underpinned by that most fluid of one-handed backhands.

But at her moment of glory the mutterings began. She had made no secret of being a lesbian, but extremely unkind and injudicious remarks were made by both Davenport and Martina Hingis, who beat her in the final. It took a long time for the scars to heal and for the former world junior champion to adjust to the harshness and unremitting pressure of the professional circuit.

Mauresmo is not as confident as she sometimes appears, and is prone to dwell too much on setbacks. A back problem also hampered her progress, but in 2002 her rich talent began to be universally recognised and she was a semi-finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

Last week she reached the final in Sydney, losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne, the French No1 having had to play her semi-final only a few hours before meeting the Belgian world No1 because of the previous day's poor weather.

"Australia has always been a good place for me and this is probably the best opportunity I will have to win a slam," she said yesterday after dropping only two games in her second-round victory over Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia.

"It is not only because players like Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati are not here but because I feel good," she said. "I think my game is getting better and better." And it will need to, with Henin her potential semi-final opponent.

Henin also had little trouble reaching the last 32 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Camille Pin of France, although afterwards she admitted to not feeling well because of a stomach virus. "I was a little bit tired and short of energy in the sec ond set and I think that is why I lost my concentration just a bit."

The WTA, the women's governing body, has been much more strict than the men over what their trainers can dispense on court, with all medication approved and regulated, but Henin stressed that she was not taking anything for her complaint. "It is not a problem. I will be OK for my next match."

Davenport, Henin's probable quarter-final opponent, had a tougher time getting past Emilie Loit of France, who last year gave Serena Williams an almighty scare on the American's way to the title. Davenport, who has had shoulder problems recently and needed a foot opera tion last year, won 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. "My shoulder felt like 10 times better than it has in the last five or six days. I just feel like I haven't adjusted yet to the conditions here in Melbourne."

Daniela Hantuchova's time for adjustment is over, the No15 seed having lost 6-4, 6-3 to Australia's Alicia Molik despite being 4-1 ahead in the opening set.

For much of last year more was written about the Slovakian's eating habits than her tennis; the 20-year-old's physique is still more that of a model than a tennis player, but she insisted she had no problems. "All that was dealt with last year, and I don't want to talk about it any more."