Handling the pressure

Mauresmo appears to be gaining confidence as she advances at French

PARIS (Reuters) - An increasingly confident Amelie Mauresmo dispatched Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3, 6-2 in the French Open third round Friday to take another step towards her first Grand Slam title.

The French third seed started slowly but found her stride in a generally assured display in front of a packed and supportive center court crowd, wrapping up the victory in 67 minutes.

Mauresmo, whose best Roland Garros performance was reaching the quarterfinals last year, made her experience tell against an opponent making her debut in the main draw.

The 24-year-old Frenchwoman faces Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, the 21st seed, in round four and is in line for a quarterfinal against American fifth-seed Lindsay Davenport.

"It's getting better and better," said Mauresmo. "It was a tough beginning to the match. I was a little bit slow in the first three games. I didn't really know her game.

"But then I found my rhythm and I played better and better. In the second set I was really good."

Mauresmo has only reached one Grand Slam final before -- at the 1999 Australian Open -- but she has been in fine form on clay this season, winning titles in Berlin and Rome.

She has, though, often struggled to cope with the expectations of the home nation at Roland Garros and was taken to three sets in the second round by Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.

"I felt like I had some trouble in the first rounds. It's always tough for me to start here," Mauresmo admitted.

"I'm probably not yet at the level [I was] in Rome, but it's coming.

"You feel it [the pressure] before the tournament but you try to lock it out, to not pay attention to what is being said or done around you.

"I have learned year after year to handle the pressure a little bit better every time."

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.