SHE DONE IT!!!!

God DAMN!!

7 years after her last (and only) appearance in a Grand Slam final (again, in the Australian Open) Amélie Mauresmo has FINALLY won a Grand Slam title. We can *actually* call her a Grand Slam winner now which is a complete relief and joy to her supporters like myself.

Unfortunately, she only won by default after her opponent, Justine Henin-Hardenne, withdrew in the 2nd set complaining of a (stomach?) virus which sapped her of all her energy. Amélie had won the first set 6-1 and was leading the 2nd set 2-0 when she withdrew. It's an unfortunate end to what's been a brilliant 2 weeks of tennis, it's certainly not the final that anyone would have wanted or wished for. Detractors will obviously say that Momo isn't a "true" champion, but hey! Justine is also a professional sportswoman. She knows how to look after herself and thus knows not to eat anything dodgy just before a final. After the 3rd match, you could see that Justine wasn't looking well - She looked tired. But then again, she had some gruelling long matches leading up to the final. Momo on the other hand, had a much easier route to the final. She overwhelmed a lot of her opponents and of course, Kim Clijsters defaulted in the 3rd set after spraining her ankle.

I think what's also frustrating is that Momo looked incredibly relaxed instead of rather tight and tense which she can do at times. Her biggest weakness has always been her mental fragility and what appeared to be the inability to see out big matches. She's always been the "best player never to have won a Grand Slam" even though EVERYONE knew that she was capable of doing so. She's already been World No. 1, so a Grand Slam title was the only thing she was missing - Especially after Kim Clijsters won the US Open last year. A lot of people had a suspicion that just mebbe, this year would be Momo's year. We all knew she was capable of winning a Grand Slam, it's just unfortunate that she's got one by default.

However, it's still a win. She's now the Australian Open Champion. I'm just hoping that this gives her confidence the boost to go on and win more Grand Slam titles. But for now - Félicitations Amélie!