RG.3- Amelie's Last Stand?

Might we be witnessing the final throes of the career of Amelie Mauresmo?

The #22-seeded (and 29th-ranked) Pastry managed to escape the 1st Round today, defeating Olga Savchuk in three sets in between dodging raindrops in a match that didn't end until about eight hours after it was scheduled to begin. But the two-time slam champion is surely staring at the end of her Hall of Fame career in the not too distant future.

After struggling to live up to her potential for so long, Mauresmo managed to "save" her career's legacy in 2006 by outlasting Justine Henin in Melbourne, then defeating her outright in London a few months later to claim her long-overdue, late-in-career grand slam hardware. Ever since then... well, it's become clear that she might have been wise to hang up her rackets while she was ahead.

The graceful 28-year old from France is in no danger of erasing the memory of her one sparkling season. Still, it's difficult not to consider what's happened since a huge letdown. With her legacy cemented, Mauresmo's post-glory timeline has mostly been filled up with an appendectomy, a too quick return to action and a series of other injuries and poor results. Since winning Wimbledon and reaching the U.S. Open SF two months later, she's failed to advance to a slam QF in the four slams in which she's competed. Unfortunately, her lack of any prolonged follow-up slam success is probably bound to cause many to consider '06 the aberration of her career rather than the spirit-lifting, confirming moment it appeared to be when it occurred less than two years ago.

That is, unless she can carve out one final moment of glory. Thus, she perseveres.

She's in Paris again this year, looking for the Roland Garros success in front of the French fans that's always eluded her, leading to all the "choker" labels that hounded her career before '06. Her best RG results, a pair of quarterfinals, came back in 2003 and '04, and her best tennis is almost certainly behind her. But, maybe, just maybe...

Awwl, who knows? The absence of Henin at this Roland Garros has given a dash of hope to all the players looking to prove something to someone over the next two weeks. Mauresmo is no different... but she's the only one in that group with two grand slam trophies on her mantle, and the prospect of a raucous French crowd cheering her on should she turn the corner with the finish line in sight the first week of June.

Mauresmo is a fine clay court player. Her pursuit of one final grand slam moment is hardly akin to Pete Sampras' attempt to win this tournament, or what might have become Monica Seles' goal of a Wimbledon crown had fate not been quite so unkind to her career. It's at least conceivable that Mauresmo could win Roland Garros, or at least it was a few years ago when it didn't feel quite so much like she was playing out the string, hoping for something good to happen rather than being willing to sacrifice herself in order to fulfill her career goal.

It could be that like Henin, who found it difficult to gather the resources to battle once she'd reached the mountain top and found a measure of "peace," Mauresmo, too, was forever altered by her success. After 2006, maybe there were no more remarkable grand slam moments left for her to claim.

If she exits this Roland Garros as she has the previous thirteen times she's competed, Mauresmo, like the Belgian, might soon come to the conclusion that she also has no more to gain from the sport of tennis.

So, this could very well turn out to be Amelie's Last Stand in Paris. Her exit from the sport in the near future would certainly come as less of a stunning afternoon story than Henin's a few weeks ago. As always... it's good to savor the time that remains, for there may be less of it than anyone would prefer.

In the Land of Opportunity, though, maybe this one time there could be a little MORE left than we thought? Oh, if only for a Wizard to allow Amelie to click her heels one more time.



=DAY 3 NOTES=
...as rain once again ruined the parade, only thirteen singles matches were completed on Day Three. The likes of top-seeded Maria Sharapova hasn't even started her 1st Round match as Day Four beckons. Hmmm, I wonder if she might now secretly wish she HAD been scheduled for Sunday since as long as she lasts in the draw from here on out it looks like she'll get little if any rest in between Rounds... #14-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a finalist at the Australian Open in January, became the second top-seeded Frenchman to pull out of the tournament with an injury before setting foot on the court. #8 Richard Gasquet did so earlier. Mauresmo and #19-seeded Alize Cornet might be the only hope for any sort of success for the French fans now since La Trufflette can't be expected to hang around for much longer.



*ROLAND GARROS QUALIFIERS (+WILD CARDS & LUCKY LOSERS)*
[Won 1st Round]
Iveta Benesova, CZE
Mathilde Johansson, FRA (WC)
Jelena Pandzic, CRO
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
Olivia Sanchez, FRA (WC)
Selima Sfar, TUN
Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
Anastasiya Yakimova, BLR
[Lost 1st Round]
Severine Bremond, FRA (WC)
Yulia Fedossova, FRA (WC)
Jarmila Gajdosova, SVK
Monica Niculescu, ROU (LL)
[Yet to finish 1st Round]
Madison Brengle, USA (WC)
Stephanie Foretz, FRA (WC)
Violette Huck, FRA (WC)
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP
Bethanie Mattek, USA
Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
Samantha Stosur, AUS (WC)
Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
Zheng Jie, CHN




TOP QUALIFIERS: Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez/ESP & Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #15 Nicole Vaidisova/CZE (1st-Benesova)
UPSET QUEENS: The Czechs
REVELATION LADIES: xxx
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: xxx
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: xxx
ZOMBIE QUEEN: xxx
DOUBLES STAR: xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx





All for Day 3. More tomorrow.