'Vive Mauresmo!' for Now Hewitt Erases Bad Memories With 5-Set Victory Over Gaudio Tennis

Jun 01, 10:41 AM

Current Headlines: By Juliet Macur

In the middle of Amelie Mauresmo's match Thursday, a spectator yelled, "Vive La France!" and laughter rippled through the packed Court Philippe Chatrier. Evidently, that fan was not picky about which player won the second-round match. Mauresmo, the fifth seed, and her competitor, Natahlie Dechy, are both French.

On the streets of Paris, though, there has definitely been a favorite. In the weeks leading to the French Open, Mauresmo said she had heard encouragement from her compatriots who pass her around town. They have shouted, "Roland Garros is yours this year!" and "We are counting on you!"

In the past, before she won two Grand Slam tournaments, those words piled the pressure upon her.

"I had a lot of trouble with people saying those things to me, when it was earlier in my career," Mauresmo said. "Now I just say, 'Thank you, I'll try to win for you. I'll do my best.' Things are very different now."

Mauresmo is much more relaxed after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year. On Thursday, it just took her two sets to get to that state of mind against Dechy, whom she has known for nearly 20 years.

After a close, three-set match that was completed after a two- hour rain delay, Mauresmo won, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1. The French still have hope that one of their own will win the women's title this year.

Mauresmo is one of three French women - and one of eight French singles players - to advance to the third round, as the country watches to see how far she will go. The best she has done here has been the quarterfinals, twice.

The last French woman to win the singles title here was Mary Pierce in 2000, when she became the first to do so in 33 years. Yannick Noah was the last Frenchman to win, in 1983. Before that, Marcel Bernard won in 1946.

So fans were ready, and hungry, for Mauresmo's match against Dechy. They chanted "Am-e-lie! then "Nat-a-lie!" as the two began to play in the sunshine that has been rare here in Paris this week.

Mauresmo, 27, and Dechy, 28, grew up playing junior tennis against each other, and are still close friends. Mauresmo said Dechy "would defeat me on a regular basis" when they were young. But now, she said, "That is no longer the case."

It came close to tipping Dechy's way on Thursday, particularly in the second set when the plucky Dechy refused to lose. After the rain delay, Dechy won three quick points of a tiebreaker to win the second set.

In the third set, Dechy struggled, later saying she had problems with the conditions. It was also complicated, she said, to play such a good friend in such a fierce match. The two had played five times before as professionals. Mauresmo now leads, 4-2.

"It's never easy because most of the time we used to more practice together than to play matches," said Dechy, still frowning because of the loss. "But I just try to forget it, and as I said before the match, do my best."

Last year, in her 12th year of playing Grand Slams, Mauresmo finally became a champion of not one, but two big tournaments. She won the Australian Open. She won Wimbledon. In between, she sputtered in Paris, only making it to the fourth round. She is now set to play Lucie Safarova, seeded No. 25, in the fourth round, which will give her time to rest after her two-and-a-half-hour match against Dechy.

Lleyton Hewitt, however, may need more time to rebound from his match on Thursday. About an hour afterward, his face was still glowing red from the sun and the exertion of his three-and-a-half- hour match against Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 French Open champion.

But Hewitt did not mind the marathon match. He needed the extra time.

Hewitt, the No. 14 seed, recovered from a two-set deficit to beat Gaudio and advanced to the third round, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6- 4, 6-2. Only three other times in his nine years on the tour has Hewitt been able to accomplish such a feat. Afterward, he walked through the players' restaurant, year-old daughter Mia, in his arms, both of them smiling wide.

"He's got to be one of the toughest second-round players to play," said Hewitt, of Gaudio. "You just don't really know what you're going to get from him. So at first, he played fantastically."

Hewitt, 26, has won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, but has only twice made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open.

But on Thursday, even after missing two months this year because of a back injury, Hewitt was able to hang on against Gaudio. After losing the first two sets, Hewitt looked across the net and saw the stoic Gaudio grow slower and slower. At the same time, Hewitt, somewhat miraculously, began to feel better, his energy rising.

"At the end, I couldn't control the match anymore," said Gaudio, who is ranked No. 72, though two years ago, he was No. 5. "It is true that I fought very hard. Even in the fifth set, I can tell you that I pulled out all the stops to get out of this tricky situation."

Though Hewitt and Gaudio's match seemed to last forever, it still managed to beat the rain that postponed several matches until later in the day. By nightfall, after play had resumed, several top seeds won their matches: two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Flavio Cipolla; No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Meghann Shaughnessy; No. 2 Maria Sharapova defeated Jill Craybas. No. 8 Serena Williams, who dominated Milagro Sequera in the first set, also won, but not without effort, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).

On Friday, though rain is supposed to return, the matches will continue, including that of Mauresmo and Dechy, who will play doubles together.

Though enemies for an afternoon, everything went back to normal when their singles match ended. At the net, they kissed each other on both cheeks.

"It's a hard thing to play a good friend," Mauresmo said. "But I just told her to check the schedule for doubles. After that, life went on."

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