Amelia Island (Florida), Apr 14: The third-ranked Mauresmo erased a second-set match point en route to upsetting Henin-Hardenne on Saturday. But that gruelling 2-hour, 45-minute semifinal clearly took its toll on the Frenchwoman. Still, Mauresmo didn't go quietly. She won three straight games to tighten the first set, then fought off match point twice before Davenport finally closed out her second title of 2004. "I was very tired, plus she was very aggressive and didn't give me much time to do what I wanted to do," said Mauresmo, who earned $47,800 in her first tournament since a 10-week absence with a back injury that forced her out of the Australian Open quarterfinals. "But it give me a lot of confidence to play as well as I did," Mauresmo added. "I just want to keep improving." Davenport, who owns three grand slam singles titles, also won this tournament in 1997 and was the runner-up last year.


Bureau Report