Amelie Mauresmo

Amélie Simone Mauresmo is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon, and also won a Silver Medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Mauresmo first attained the top ranking on 13 September 2004, holding it for five weeks on that occasion. She was the fifteenth World No. 1 in women's tennis since the computer rankings began. She is well known for her powerful one-handed backhand and strong net play. She officially announced her retirement from professional tennis on 3 December 2009, ending a career of fifteen years. She returned to Wimbledon in 2010, acting as a grass court advisor for Frenchman and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion Michaël Llodra. She helped Marion Bartoli in 2013 and during Bartoli's triumph at Wimbledon. Mauresmo has coached Andy Murray since June 2014.

Mauresmo was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye slightly northwest of Paris. She began playing tennis at the age of four, after being inspired by Yannick Noah's win in the 1983 French Open on television. It was after his win that Mauresmo's parents bought her her first tennis racket. Later on in 1998 Yannick Noah picked her on the French team for the Fed Cup. Her mother Françoise is a housewife and her father Francis, who died in March 2004, was an engineer. She has a brother, Fabien, who is an engineer.

In 1996, Mauresmo captured both the junior French Open and Wimbledon women's singles titles. She was named 1996 Junior World Champion by the International Tennis Federation.

The unseeded Mauresmo reached the Australian Open final in 1999 with wins over three seeded players, including world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport, before falling to world no. 2 Martina Hingis. Mauresmo was only the second Frenchwoman ever to reach the Australian Open final; (Mary Pierce was the first, winning the championship in 1995). She was only the third Frenchwoman to reach any Grand Slam final during the Open Era.

Mauresmo defeated Hingis later in the year, en route to the final of the Paris indoor event.

After the defeat of Davenport at the Australian Open, Mauresmo, 19 at the time, came out as gay to the international press. She "attributed her success on the court to coming to terms with her sexuality and finding love." She also endured homophobic taunts from fellow competitors, whom she later went on to defeat

Although Mauresmo had been one of the top singles players for several years, she did not have success in winning Grand Slam tournaments until 2006. Her talents were never questioned, but Mauresmo was criticized for her mental strength after succumbing to nerves in those events. In consecutive Wimbledon semifinals, she lost to Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport after leading comfortably. Before her 2006 Australian Open title, Mauresmo was often touted as "the greatest women's player never to win a Grand Slam." After winning the 2006 Wimbledon title, Mauresmo openly joked, "I don’t want anyone to talk about my nerves any more."

Mauresmo is one of the few tennis players, male or female, to have reached the top ranking without first winning a Grand Slam singles title. Other players who had done so were Belgian Kim Clijsters, who ascended to the top spot in 2003, two years before winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2005 U.S. Open; Ivan Lendl, who first reached world no. 1 in 1983, before winning any of his eight Grand Slam singles titles; Marcelo Ríos of Chile, who reached world no. 1 in 1998 but never won a Grand Slam singles title; Jelena Janković of Serbia who reached world no. 1 in 2008; Dinara Safina, who reached World No. 1 in 2009 without winning a Grand Slam singles title; and Caroline Wozniacki, who reached world no. 1 in 2010.

Mauresmo inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.