Tennis: Pressure on Mauresmo

Imagine the pressure Tim Henman has been under in recent years to deliver for Britain at Wimbledon.

Double that, and you have some idea what French tennis players, men and women, face as they tread the clay of Roland Garros in search of glory for the homeland starting today.

Mary Pierce did it in Millennium Year, but the purists who flock to this Gallic Grand Slam regard Pierce, born in Canada and raised in the United States, as not quite French, even if they do call her "Marie". Before that it was Francoise Durr, back in 1967, who last won for France.

Pierce, the runner-up in 2005, has withdrawn this year because of a foot injury, but on paper and going by the ranking system, France has more than a chance this time with world No 1 Amelie Mauresmo, holder of the Australian Open.

Mauresmo first played Roland Garros aged 15 in 1995.

Yet the best she has been able to summon in 11 attempts so far is a couple of quarter-finals (2003 and 2004). Last year she took on the charismatic Yannick Noah (the men's winner in 1983) as coach-adviser - and went out in the third round.

Now, she feels, she is ready to cope with that avalanche of expectation.

"Since the Australian Open I have been looking at things differently, and I am hoping that will help me."

- INDEPENDENT