Mauresmo on a roll but staying levelheaded
Blaise Robinson, Reuters, Montreal, Canada
When she began her North American hard court campaign at the Canadian Open, France's Amelie Mauresmo was just hoping to win a couple of matches as a warm-up for the U.S. Open later this month.
Instead she sailed through the tournament without losing a single set, and even humbled American world number three Jennifer Capriati in the tournament final on Sunday.
"Frankly, I wasn't coming here to win the tournament, but more to get in good shape ahead of the U.S. Open," Mauresmo said after her 6-4 6-1 victory that also gave her an eighth WTA tour title.
"I was thinking of measuring myself (against) the world's best."
Despite her second consecutive victory over Capriati, she also knocked her out of the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, Mauresmo was unsure of her chances at the final Grand Slam of the year, which begins at Flushing Meadows on Aug. 26.
"I just want to keep it one day at the time, so I'm just going to focus on next week's tournament (New Haven) and try to do well. I will keep focusing on my game and than the U.S. Open will be a different story.
Mauresmo has never got past the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open, a career best she reached last year before losing to Capriati in two sets.
She missed the U.S. Open in 2000 because of a back injury, after reaching the fourth round in 1999 and the third in 1998, where she made her first appearance at the age of 19.
She reached a career high ranking of fifth last year, but has since slipped to 10th.
In men's event, American James Blake came from behind to win the Legg Mason Classic in Washington after defeating Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 1-6 7-6 6-4 on Sunday.
The win was the first for the sixth seeded former Harvard student, who beat five-time champion Andre Agassi in the semi- final on Saturday.
"I never knew if my first title would ever come," said the 22- year-old American, who was ranked 32 before winning the championship match.
Buoyed by the cheering Thai fans, Srichaphan sailed through the first set, breaking Blake's serve twice in 26 minutes and moving the American around the hard court.
In the sixth game of the second set, Blake broke Srichaphan's serve but the 14th seeded Thai broke back three games later to eventually set up a tie break, which Blake won 7-5.
Ahead 15-40 in the fourth game of the third set, Srichaphan had three break points but was unable to convert any of them.
Then Blake squandered one break point in the next game but eventually achieved the defining break of the match when he hit a forehead down the line to pull ahead 3-2 in the third set.
In Indiana, Britain's Greg Rusedski topped off a successful week by outlasting Felix Mantilla 6-7 6-4 6-4 to win the Indianapolis Open on Sunday for his second title this year and the 12th of his career.
The first set ended in controversy when, with Rusedski set point down in the tiebreak, a ball from Mantilla appeared to land long but was not called.
A furious Rusedski appealed and hurled his racket to the ground, but the point stood and the 14th seed was forced to regroup for the second set.
A break of serve with a crosscourt winner gave Rusedski a 4-3 lead, and he broke at the same stage of the third set when Mantilla sent a backhand long.
The Spaniard then led 40-0 on Rusedski's serve in the next game, but the Briton fought off the late challenge and held with an ace.
When it was suggested to Rusedski after the match that some form of video evidence be available to settle such important line call disputes, he turned back the idea.
So, after venting his feelings to Australian umpire Wayne McEwan, Rusedski quickly put the matter aside and turned his attention to trying to win the second and third sets.