Out Spotlight

Today’s Out Spotlight was ranked No. 1 in the tennis world, winning 25 career titles including two Grand Slams. In 2004, they received an Olympic Silver medal in tennis singles. Today’s Out Spotlight is is French former professional tennis player Amélie Mauresmo.

Amélie Simone Mauresmo was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France on July 5, 1979. Her mother, Françoise is a homemaker and her father Francis, who died in March 2004, was an engineer. She also has a brother Fabien who is an engineer. Mauresmo began playing tennis at the age of four, after being inspired by Yannick Noah's win in the 1983 French Open on television. It was after his win that her parents bought her first tennis racket. Her talent on the court was quickly recognized, and her parents enrolled her in private lessons. In 1996, at the age of seventeen, she captured both the junior French Open and Wimbledon titles. She was named 1996 Junior World Champion by the International Tennis Federation. In 1998 her childhood inspiration Yannick Noah picked her to be on n the French team for the Fed Cup.

The unseeded Mauresmo reached the Australian Open final in 1999 with wins over three seeded players, including world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport, before falling to world no. 2 Martina Hingis. Mauresmo was only the second Frenchwoman ever to reach the Australian Open final and was only the third Frenchwoman to reach any Grand Slam final during the Open Era. She defeated Hingis later in the year, en route to the final of the Paris indoor event.

In 1999, two years into her professional career, Mauresmo came out during the Australian Open. She publicly embraced her girlfriend after defeating the World No. 1 player, Lindsay Davenport. Mauresmo credited her on-court success to coming to terms with her sexuality. She is the first tennis player to come out without losing any major sponsors.

Mauresmo first attained no 1 ranking on 13 September 2004, holding it for five weeks on that occasion. She was the fourteenth world no. 1 in women's tennis since computer rankings began. She is one of only a few tennis players to reach World No. 1 ranking before winning a Grand Slam title. Known for her powerful one-handed backhand and strong net play, she has defeated top-ranked players such as Venus and Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, and Justine Henin. In 2003, she helped France capture the Fed Cup and went on to win a silver medal in singles tennis at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she was defeated by Belgian Justine Henin in the final.

In 2007, the president of France presented Mauresmo with the Legion of Honor, the highest honor for a citizen. She officially announced her retirement from professional tennis on December 3 2009, ending a career of ten years. She returned to Wimbledon in 2010, acting as a grass court advisor for Frenchman and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion Michaël Llodra.

At the 2011 French Open, Mauresmo was set to be reunited with Llodra, making her professional return in the mixed doubles competition, but was disqualified before competing, because she had not re-registered for the anti-doping procedures required to compete on the tour.

This past November, Mauresmo ran her first marathon at the 2010 New York City Marathon, finishing 3hr: 40m: 20s.

Since retiring, she has become ambassador of the Sport for Life Foundation, a Swiss-based organization dedicated to supporting young athletes. “I want to share the experiences I’ve gathered along my career with young people so they cannot walk into traps,” she says. “Respect for values is the foundation for success!”

Mauresmo lives in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Whether it's in the right way or sometimes the wrong way, you learn about life and its lessons.”