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Amelie Mauresmo wasted no time on Saturday in sweeping
past No. 23 seed Patty Schnyder, 6-1, 6-4. The match,
which lasted 64 minutes, featured some of Mauresmo's
best play seen so far this week. The French native, who
is the No. 10 seed, used both her height and strength as
advantages, dictating most of the match and racking up a
total of 18 winners and four aces.
The first set showcased baseline-heavy play by Schnyder,
while Mauresmo approached the net 17 times. Not only did
Schnyder resort to playing a defensive game, she also
struggled in her few attempts to pass Mauresmo at the
net. Late preparation, along with dropping confidence,
produced little steam for the Swiss player.
Schnyder improved in the second set, however, coming
from behind to tie it at four games apiece. Schnyder,
looking more alive than ever, sought to run Mauresmo
from corner to corner, knowing her opponent may have
been cramping up.
Mauresmo, with a taped left thigh, slowed down the pace
of the game by hitting slice-heavy backhands and easing
off on her net game. This proved to work well, as she
provoked unforced errors by Schnyder and took the ninth
game, leaving an upset Schnyder to throw her racket in
frustration.
Serving for the match, Mauresmo began the final game
with a serve-and-volley combo, followed by a 103-mph
serve that Schnyder failed to return. Reserved in
emotion and confident in her play, Mauresmo finally
closed out the match with yet another shattering serve.
She goes on to play Kim Clijsters in round 4.
-With wins over No. 1 Lindsay Davenport at the
Australian Open in January and No. 1 Martina Hingis in
February at the Paris Indoors, Mauresmo became the first
player ranked outside the top 10 to defeat two different
world No. 1's in a calendar year.
-This is Mauresmo and Schnyder's tenth head-to-head.
Mauresmo leads, 5-4.
-Their most recent meeting was in Charleston, where
Schnyder won, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
-Mauresmo is making her fourth appearance at the US
Open. She has improved her performance at the tournament
each year by one round.
-Schnyder's best performance at the US Open was in
1998, when she reached the quarterfinals before losing
to No. 2 seed Jana Novotna.
-Switzerland native Schnyder was the biggest mover in
the WTA Tour rankings in 1995, moving up 634 spots.
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Singles
1R
beat Nadia Petrova
7-6 5-7
6-2
2R
beat Martina Sucha 6-3 6-3
3R lost
Amelie Mauresmo 1-6
4-6
Doubles with Grande
1R beat Rodionova/Weingartner 7-5 6-3
2R lost Dementieva/Husarova 3-6
6-7
Photos
US Open 2002
gallery
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