Mauresmo survives tough test

Mauresmo Amelie Mauresmo of France, Wimbledon champion two years ago, beat Italy’s Flavia Penetta 7-5 6-3 to reach the fourth round after a fiercely contested match that reflected their close rivalry. Mauresmo was warned by the umpire after firing a ball into the crowd in the last game when the Italian was trying desperately to stay in the match. The warning came at 15-all after Mauresmo had double faulted but the French girl regained her composure to win the next two points to set up two match points. She double faulted on the first, her eighth. But a service winner saw her through to the last 16 in one hour and 30 minutes. On paper, Mauresmo, the 17th seed, and Pennetta, the 15th, were closely matched, each having won two of their previous matches. But they had never played on grass where Mauresmo was certain to feel more at home. Pennetta gave Mauresmo plenty to think about from the start. The French girl had to save five break points in her first service game, before winning what was a six-deuce game. Pennetta certainly looked up for the challenge, hitting back immediately afer losing her serve in the fourth game. But after the Italian failed to convert two break points against Mauresmo’s serve at 5-5 she disastrously lost her serve to love in the following game to lose the set 7-5 in 57 minutes. The hard hitting continued but Mauresmo began to look more in charge midway through the second set and the pressure began to swing on to the Italian. When Mauresmo saved a break point in the seventh game with a service winner, it was a crucial blow and she went on to close out the set 6-3. This was Pennetta’s seventh Wimbledon and the first time she has been in the third round. Mauresmo showed her it was a match too far. Court 3 - Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round Amelie Mauresmo FRA (17) 7 6 Flavia Pennetta ITA (15) 5 3

Seeds too strong for Robson/Stoop

Kuznetsova and Mauresmo Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo ended British interest in the women’s doubles with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Laura Robson and Georgie Stoop in the second round. The British pair set up the clash with the 16th seeds after beating fellow Brits Jade Curtis and Anna Smith 6-4, 3-6, 13-11 on Wednesday in an epic first round match. And while they put up a dogged fight against Kuznetsova and Mauresmo, the experience of their opponents, who have five Grand Slams titles between them, eventually shone through on a packed Court 12. While the energetic Stoop smiled and bounded around the court, Robson’s body language was a different story. The reigning junior Wimbledon champion looked forlornly at her camp after almost every error that came off her racket and while her supporters tried their best to gee the 16-year-old up, they were rewarded with only a few flashes of genius. Her downfall was her volley, which was frequently knocked long or without purpose. Stoop, a relative unknown with British fans until the wild card gave Vera Zvonereva a scare in the first round, played solidly throughout, frequently enjoying – and winning – powerful exchanges with Kuztnetsova from the back of the court. The French/Russian pairing took the first set on their third set point when Stoop netted after a fierce drive by Kuztnetsova, who lifted the Roland Garros singles title three weeks ago. The British pair hit back in the second set, opening up a 3-0 lead after a mini slip-up from their opposition. For a brief period Robson appeared a little happier, reminding fans of her potential as she relaxed to whip a couple of forehand winners crosscourt to help break the Kuztnetsova serve . Sensing a decider could be on the cards, the crowd eagerly willed on the home talent. However, their inexperience showed as they tensed up and allowed Mauresmo and Kuztnetsova to peg the score back level to 3-3. A frustrated Robson then handed her opponents a further 5-4 advantage courtesy of a poor service game, which included two double faults. Kutznetsova then held serve easily for victory, which booked a place in the third round against third seeds Rennee Stubbs and Samantha Stosur. Court 12 - Ladies' Doubles - 2nd Round Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (16)/ Amelie Mauresmo FRA (16) 6 6 Laura Robson GBR / Georgie Stoop GBR 3 4

Mauresmo breezes through

Amelie Mauresmo If there is such a thing as a routine victory then it belonged to Amelie Mauresmo today as she overcame Slovakian lucky loser Kristina Kucova in the simplest of second round victories. Playing on Court 3 – the old No.2 Court, known as the “graveyard of champions” – the 2006 winner faced little difficulties as she won 6-3, 6-3 in 61 minutes. The first set was deeply uneventful. Mauresmo, as has long been her habit, took a while to get into her stride and her first serve was nowhere to be found. She delivered two double faults in the first game and then compounded the mistakes with another unforced error to give her opponent break point. Presumably 19-year-old Kucova, ranked 149 in the world, was so startled she was unable to take advantage. After all, this is not only her Grand Slam debut but before this week she had not previously made the main singles draw in a Tour event all year (although she has mustered one title on the ITF circuit). Kucova then followed Mauresmo’s example with two double faults of her own, but in her case it simply opened the door for the Frenchwoman to break to love, and from there it was a straightforward stroll through the set. Of course this was a match Mauresmo – who turns 30 the day after the ladies’ final next week – could only have expected to win. Playing in her 45th career Grand Slam, she brought nothing if not experience to the encounter. In the first game of the second set she had the Slovakian running all over the court and broke her again. At 1-3, too many loose shots from Kucova handed over the double break. Mauresmo let a match point go by and managed to give back a break before eventually wrapping up the match at the third time of asking. Court 3 - Ladies' Singles - 2nd Round Amelie Mauresmo FRA (17) 6 6 Kristina Kucova SVK 3 3

Ineffective Mauresmo flatters to deceive

Amelie Mauresmo Former ladies' singles champion Amelie Mauresmo clawed her way into the second round, battling her own fading powers as much as opponent Melinda Czink to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. The former No.2 court - still getting used to its new moniker of Court No.3 - looked as if it would retain its erstwhile “graveyard of champions” billing, but the French 17th seed, the title winner in 2006, rode her impeccable backhand and managed to fire down more aces than double faults to outlast the unheralded Hungarian. It must be tough for someone who has won Grand Slams on different surfaces, bested the Williams sisters during the mid-2000s and spent a decade in the upper echelons of the game to be given the run-around by a 26-year-old journeywoman who is currently enjoying her highest ever ranking at a lowly 54th in the world. But such is life for Mauresmo who has failed to reach the quarter-finals of a major since winning the Australia Open then Wimbledon in 2006. Her one-handed backhand is still arguably the best in the game, particularly since her rival Justine Henin retired last year, but her serve is no longer the reliable weapon that it was and her forehand something of a lottery. Whenever she seems to have turned a corner – winning the Open Gaz de France in Paris last February and securing three points to power France almost single-handedly past Slovakia in the Fed Cup in April – a setback inevitably follows. She crashed out to Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the first round at Roland Garros, and came perilously close to repeating the feat here today. The first set was Amelie at her vintage best. She dropped only two points on serve, won half a dozen points at the net with some crisp volleys and seized on her left-handed opponent’s hesitant service, clipping her trademark backhands at will in a 19-minute exhibition of grass-court tennis. And then it all went awry. Czink served stronger and focused on Mauresmo’s forehand, and as the set began to spiral out of control, the Frenchwoman continued to rush to the net, ill advisedly on most occasions and letting the Hungarian pass her at will. A brief rally saw Mauresmo claw a break back to 4-5, but Czink settled herself and served out to love to take it to a third set. The decider was a battle of nerves, or more accurately of two nervous players. Double faults were served up – four on each side – and breaks were exchanged. The air turned blue as Mauresmo cursed her waning abilities as she sent forehands awry on a regular basis. Ultimately she had enough in the tank to hold serve one last time, and then concluded the match with a fine running cross-court flick at full stretch. She herself will know only too well that the final point was mere window-dressing. Her quarter of the draw may have a dearth of grass-court specialists, but the 29-year-old will have to roll back the years if she is to prolong her stay in SW19 into a second week.