17 maggio 2004
ROMA - Telecom Italia Masters
ROME (AFP) - Rome Masters champion Amelie
Mauresmo said neither player deserved to lose Sunday's final after she edged
Jennifer Capriati in a gripping third set tie-break to win the trophy for
the first time.
The French number two seed saved one match point on her way to a 3-6, 6-3,
7-6 (8/6) victory on clay at the Foro Italico where she has been a runner-up
on three previous occasions.
"It was very close and could have gone either way," said the 24-year-old
from the Paris suburbs, a losing finalist here in 2000, 2001 and 2003.
"When it gets to 6-all in the tie-break, you
really don't know what's going to happen. You just hang in there and go for
it when you have the opportunity.
"And I felt that's what I did. She had match point, so it could have gone
her way. But I am very satisfied about the level of the match and with the
way I hung in there till the end."
The world number three said she knew Capriati would give her a tougher match
than the one in Berlin last week when she thumped the American 6-2, 6-0
before winning her first tournament of the year.
"I didn't read into that result too much and I expected her to be more
consistent," said the 2003 French Open quarter-finalist.
"She beat Serena Williams yesterday and had some good matches throughout the
week, so I was expecting a much harder match."
In beating Capriati, Mauresmo became the third player after Monica Seles and
Steffi Graf to win back-to-back German and Italian Opens.
Encouragingly for Mauresmo, Seles and Graf went on to win the French Open
after doing so.
Capriati, a three-time Grand Slam winnner, said she may have been edged out
by Mauresmo, but she didn't feel like a loser having played some of her best
tennis for some time.
"I felt like we were both playing unbelievable tennis and I don't really
feel that bad," said the 28-year-old American fifth seed.
"It was a really fantastic match and that's what I thrive on, what I play
for, these kind of matches.
I lost by a couple of points, so I guess in the end there's really no loser."
Capriati was glad to run Mauresmo close after her humiliating defeat to her in Germany.
"I wasn't the player of a week ago," she said. "I've been on a
roll this week, but last week I wasn't ready for her.
But you learn something from these matches and that's what it takes to be a
great player - to bounce back from those losses.
I had something to prove to myself and to her that it was a fluke. I wasn't
going to let that happen again and I made her really earn her victory."
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