Warsaw (Poland), May 04: Amelie Mauresmo claimed her first victory over Venus Williams in six meetings when the American retired injured in the third set of the US$700,000 J&S Cup final today.
World no. 7 Mauresmo led 6-7 (6/8) 6-0 3-0 when no. 3 Williams withdrew possibly from a pulled stomach muscle.
Williams left the court for treatment on her stomach after the second set. When she returned, she looked in great discomfort as the Frenchwoman took a 3-0 lead, and when she hit her 13th double-fault to fall behind 30-40 in the next game, she retired.
Williams double-faulted in 10 of her 11 service games. The first set was well balanced, with Williams twice taking the lead at 2-0 and 4-2, only for Mauresmo to break back. Mauresmo broke for 6-5, but couldn't serve out the set, and squandered two set-points at 6-4 in the tiebreaker.
Williams, who had looked tentative throughout the first set, fell behind 0-2 in the second set, and didn't take advantage of four break-points in the next game. That virtually ended her challenge.


Bureau Report