Amelie Mauresmo,
a gay tennis pro from France, reached her first Grand
Slam final in seven years when Kim Clijsters retired from
their Australian Open semifinal Thursday. Mauresmo was
leading 5-7, 6-2, 3-2 when the
second-seeded Clijsters withdrew because of an injured right
ankle. Clijsters's departure ended the prospect of an
all-Belgian final with Justine Henin-Hardenne.
After breaking
Mauresmo to get back on serve in the third set and then
holding game point at 40-0 in the fifth game,
Clijsters let Mauresmo back in with two unforced
errors and a double fault. Facing a break point, she
stumbled and fell to the court when Mauresmo hit a forehand
behind her. Clijsters had her ankle heavily taped and
played only one more point before retiring.
"We had
such a great battle.... It's a little bit of an
unfinished match, but that's the way it is
sometimes," Mauresmo said. "I just hope
she's going to get better."
Third-seeded
Mauresmo hasn't returned to a Grand Slam final since
losing the 1999 Australian Open decider to Martina
Hingis. That remains the 26-year-old
Frenchwoman's best run at a major. "I can
[hardly] remember I made the final here,"
Mauresmo said jokingly. "I'm very happy to do
it again. I've been waiting so long, and I hope
it's going to go my way."
Mauresmo will
meet Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open championship
match on Saturday. (AP, with additional reporting by
Advocate.com)