Mauresmo advances
French player first into semifinals
Posted: Tuesday January 26, 1999 08:17 AM
| |
Unranked Amelie Mauresmo advances to the semifinals AP |
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Eleventh seed Dominique van
Roost tripped out of the Australian Open on Tuesday, beaten 6-3
7-6 by unsung Amelie Mauresmo of France in the quarterfinals.
Van Roost, who became Belgium's first world top 10 player
last year, handed the first set to 29th-ranked Mauresmo with a
slew of loose groundstrokes.
The world No. 12 lost the first game on her serve but
broke back immediately, then fell into trouble in the sixth game
against the only unseeded player to make the quarterfinals at
the season-open grand slam tournament.
She saved three break points, including one with an ace,
only to fail on the fourth as she drove a forehand into the net.
Van Roost then squandered a chance to go 3-1 up in the
second set with a backhand into the net. She fended off a break
point against her in the next game with a perfectly placed
crosscourt shot, but such winners were scarce in a dull contest.
With no breaks of serve in the second set, the 20-year-old
Frenchwoman forced a tie-break and took a crucial advantage on
the sixth point when she whipped a forehand down the line.
Van Roost gave the unseeded Mauresmo the match with two
successive backhands into the net. In her one previous grand
slam quarterfinal appearance, at the 1997 Open, the Belgian was
forced to retire with a stomach muscle strain.
Mauresmo upset eighth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in
the second round and had never before made it past the third
round in a grand slam tournament.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
