Comments on: What About Amelie?

By: Van Sias

Van Sias — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:47:07 +0000

• Hi Aaress, thanks again for letting me write this article: I enjoyed doing it. About Amelie: I’m glad to hear that she’s committed to making a comeback. I think she definitely has a couple of more good years in her.

• Hello Roger. I know Henin has usually come out on top in her matches with Mauresmo, but would you say that makes her a better player? Because I think from an ability standpoint, they would be pretty equal, regardless of surface. Henin’s just more mentally tough, at least that’s how I see it.

• Hey Drew. Yeah, those six I mentioned are definitely OK, to say the least! I would be sad to see Amelie go so soon. I feel especially that unless she just couldn’t play anymore physically that she shouldn’t go anywhere. Her game translates well to any surface: I just hope the injuries and losses haven’t eroded her confidence. If so, then here’s to hoping she gets it back!

By: Drew

Drew — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:30:46 +0000

“Lack of standard of the current top 10″ is a bit harsh – the six mentioned in the first three paragraphs aren’t too shabby! Justine left a void, certainly, but there’s still some quality up there.

Dominika also hasn’t been around long and is making excellent progress so let’s give her a while yet.

As for Amélie, much as I’d love to see her back fighting it out for top spot (or even the top 10) I personally think she’ll call it a day. She’s hinted at retirement before and might well pack it in at the end of the year. And yes, with Justine’s gone as well, we’ll miss Amélie’s backhand even more…

By: Roger

Roger — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:20:37 +0000

Actually when Mauresmo defeated Henin it was either a young Justine (1999) one that was tired from over playing (Wta Championships 2003), with a Virus (Amelia Island 2004) or injured at (A0 2006).

Mauresmo is a better grass court player that Henin, and that’s about it. The Amelie indoor carpet game is pretty good though, but that’s about it. There’s not time for choking on grass, and the French woman has always been oddly enough superior on grass than any other surface in her career.

But Henin is the overall greater player than Mauresmo against all opponents and not only each other.

Cibulokova is a Kuznetsova type player, but her progress is more about the lack of standard from the current top 10 more than anything else. Mauremos on the other hand looks tired, and only her ego is keeping her in the game. The tennis is very low in standard and passive.

By: Aaress Lawless

Aaress Lawless — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:34:51 +0000

Thank you, Van! Excellent article.

With Henin out of the picture, Amelie remains the sport’s purest ball striker. When Mauresmo played at her best level, not even Henin could beat her.

I thought earlier this year that Mauresmo might be tempted to call it quits because of her slump, but from what it sounds now, she is willing to weather this setback. That alone shows she is confident that this is a short-term obstacle, especially after reaching the fourth round at the US Open.

Dominika Cibulkova is quickly coming into her own on the Tour and a few months from now, I doubt that we’ll be considering her defeat of Mauresmo as surprising. In the meanwhile, Amelie will just have to hope to avoid her in the draw of her next event.