While the Williams sisters sit at home waiting for the start of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami on March 17, Amelie Mauresmo is setting her sights on the number one ranking in the California desert.The 23-year-old Frenchwoman — who plays Spain’s Magui Serna in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open on Monday — believes that her increasing maturity and newfound commitment to attacking the net could eventually lead her past the Williamses.It’s an ambitious target considering the success of Serena and Venus, who have notched up seven victories between them in the last nine Grand Slams.“My goal is to reach number one,” Mauresmo said.“Whether it’s going to happen in a month, a year, or five years, I don’t know. Everyone has a goal in life and in my tennis life, that’s mine.”The eighth-ranked Frenchwoman reached both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open semi-finals last year, but was halted by a Williams on each occasion,At the All-England Club she was brushed aside by Serena in straight sets, and in New York, Venus outlasted her in a tough three-setter.After successfully recovering from off-season knee surgery, the muscular all-court player is fresh, both physically and mentally. Mauresmo also admitted that she was confident she would not be staring up at the top forever.“After I lost to Serena at Wimbledon I was so frustrated that I said I’d only play for number three spot,” Mauresmo said. “But now I’m thinking nothing is forever. There’s going to be a time that I’m going to improve a little and Serena’s going to go down a little. You can’t be 100 percent all the time.”The Frenchwoman leapt into the limelight when, as a virtual unknown, she stunned Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals of the 1999 Australian Open before losing to Martina Hingis in the final. Although she has racked up eight titles and a number of wins over elite players since then, Mauresmo did not repeat her early grand slam success until last year.Some of that had to do with a back injury which kept her out of play for large portions of 2000 and 2001, and some of it had to do with her immaturity. “I’m a very different player now and I’ve improved a lot in all the different areas of the game, mentally, physically, and even technically I can do many different things,” she said.“I’m happy about that. I’ve become a better person, more mature and more experienced. I love this life.”Mauresmo did not always appreciate how fortunate she was to be at the top of her sport and often found herself lamenting the pressures of her job.That changed last autumn, when she went down with a knee injury when at the top of her game. “Before (the injury) I didn’t realise that I was lucky to be doing what I love to do for a living,” she said. “I hadn’t really sat down and thought about my life but when I was out for a while with my knee injury, I finally realised I had a good life and should be proud of it. Mauresmo is also seeking to accomplish what so many women’s players say they want to do but never quite manage; transform herself from a baseliner to a net-rusher. She knows that it’s the only way she’s going to compete at the highest level. “Even in 1999 I was talking about it, but it didn’t click,” she said.(Reuters)
