| Amélie Mauresmo shows Wimbledon promise in repeat quest |
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| Written by Zico Kelly | |||||||
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Sunday, 24 June 2007
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 Amélie Mauresmo began her Wimbledon warm-up in Eastbourne with a performance at the tournament as good as last year's had been bad. Point-Spreads.com believes that’s a promising sign for tennis bettors looking for an alternatives to Serena Williams 9-4 odds and Justine Henin 13-4 odds. Mauresmo is still at 9 to 1 odds to win Wimbledon 2007 at Sportsbook.com.Mauresmo´s 6-2, 6-3 victory over Mara Santangelo in the International Championship was dashing and assured, conveying an impression that her 2006 debacle here against Nathalie Dechy had been due as much to the wind whipping across the English channel as to the mental storms to which she is sometimes subject. "It took me a long time to feel comfortable with this [the grass surface]," Mauresmo said. "But after reaching my first semi-final at Wimbledon I started to see how I could play and come in and make other girls have to make passes or winners every time." Santangelo could not manage that, and it will be fascinating to see whether Justine Henin and others can do so against a Wimbledon champion who seems much more relaced about it all than she has ever been. Amélie Mauresmo added that she felt confident because she had surrounded herself with nice things, but after the 25-year-old Justine Henin's recent rapprochement with her family after a gap of eight years, this may begin to describe the French Open champion, too. As for Henin, she said of playing on grass: "I didn't trust myself compared with clay." Even so she still notched up a 6-4, 6-1 win over Agnieszka Radwanska that was as impressive as Mauresmo's. Henin hit with topspin angles from the baseline, contained and approached with slice, volleyed plenty and showed once again that her range of options is greater than anyone's - and yet still was not completely satisfied. Sportsbook.com has posted tennis betting odds to win the 2007 Wimbledon Womens Single Title: Serena Williams 9-4 Justine Henin 13-4 Maria Sharapova 9-2 Jelena Jankovic 9-1 Amelie Mauresmo 9-1 Nicole Vaidisova 12-1 Venus Williams 12-1 Ana Ivanovic 15-1 Svetlana Kuznetsova 25-1 Martina Hingis 40-1                        |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 23 June 2007 ) | |||||||