Amelie Mauresmo's Wimbledon triumph was evidence that all good things come to those who wait. Wine-loving Mauresmo has been improving with age and ended an eight-year itch with a 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory over French-speaking Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne to become the first Frenchwoman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish for 81 years. Mauresmo, who had been threatening to dominate women's tennis since reaching the Australian Open final as a teenager in 1999, made the breakthrough in Melbourne in January this year and, three days after her 27th birthday, she managed to win the hearts of the Centre-Court crowd. "There were some tough moments but I always thought I could make it," she said. "It makes it special having had to wait so long between my first and second Grand Slam finals and then having two Grand Slams in the same year. It is very sweet. Maybe if it came seven years ago it would not have had the same taste." She was forced to watch in frustration as a new breed of tennis player, led by Russian sensation Maria Sharapova, burst on to the scene and threatened to ensure Geneva-based Mauresmo remained the nearly woman. Written off as a "choker" after losing in the semi-final at Wimbledon in three of the previous four years, the suspicions grew when she lost, as the number one seed, in the fourth round at her home Grand Slam at Roland Garros a month ago to 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova. Despite being ranked number one in the world, Mauresmo went into Wimbledon on the back of generous odds of 12-1 but insists she never lost her self-belief. "It seems I have finally found how to handle the nerves a bit better," she said. "I know more now how to play tennis than a few years ago. I think everything is coming together." In a show of confidence, Mauresmo attended the post-match press conference wearing a champions' T-shirt but she was forced to shake off the blow of losing the opening set to third-seeded Henin-Hardenne before becoming the first French champion since Suzanne Lenglen won the last of her six titles in 1925. Henin-Hardenne, who is still looking to complete a career Grand Slam, went into Saturday's final on a 17-match winning run encompassing the French Open and Eastbourne titles and admitted that her recent run had taken a heavy toll. "I played in five of the last six weeks and now I'm very tired," she said. "I have no regrets, I played generally very good tennis. "It's hard to lose in the final here but I played a lot so now I will need a little bit of a break. "It's been pretty tough emotionally, maybe more than physically, in these last few weeks." | 
