By Rex Wockner
International News Report
 Amelie Mauresmo |
French tennis pro Amelie Mauresmo, 19, came out of the closet
January 28 after beating top-rated Lindsay Davenport at the
Australian Open.
She lept into the arms of girlfriend Sylvie Bourdon and later
told reporters: "Looking up at Sylvie during the match was that
little extra support that I needed. It gave me strength. Finding
Sylvie and having such a good personal life now has made the
difference in my tennis. It had been the missing part of my
life." |
According to USA Today, Mauresmo met Bourdon five weeks ago
through mutual friend and former French pro Isabelle Demongeot
and moved from Paris into Bourdon's house in St. Tropez.
Speaking to reporters in Australia, Bourdon said: "I am her
lover, not her psychiatrist. But we talk and talk like therapy so
that she feels more positive and confident about herself and her
tennis. She wasn't getting that kind of support, and it was
affecting her on court. Now she has a good balance in her life
and is happy."
|
After losing to Mauresmo, Davenport told reporters: "She's a
very, very strong girl. A couple of times I thought I was playing
a guy, the girl was hitting it so hard. She's so strong in those
shoulders. She hits the ball, you know, not like any other girl.
She hits it so hard and with so much topspin. Women's tennis is
not usually played like that. ... The shoulders looked huge. I
think that they must have grown."
Davenport later clarified that her remarks were not a comment on
Mauresmo's sexual orientation.
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Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Canadian Olympian Comes Out
French Senator Comes Out
Related Sites:
Amelie Mauresimo Fan Page
GayToday does not endorse related sites.
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In a German-language press conference, champ Martina Hingis --
who beat Mauresmo to win the tournament -- wandered down the same
path as Davenport, saying, "She is half man (Sie ist ein halber
Mann)."
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