A relaxed, smiling Amelie Mauresmo said Wednesday she fears no one at this year's French Open, where she will be a favorite to clinch her first Grand Slam title.
The world No. 3 represents France's best hope in the clay court tournament which begins Monday and ends July 6.
PHOTO: AP
"There are four or five players who are at the top and who are dangerous. But I'm not scared of anyone," she told reporters. "Whatever I do, the pressure's on me, so I might as well win."
With back-to-back titles at the German and Italian Opens this month, Mauresmo is confident of dethroning defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne at Roland Garros.
"As soon as you put your feet on clay at the end of March, you have that objective in your head," she said.
The only other women to win back-to-back Italian and German Opens were Steffi Graf (1987) and Monica Seles (1990). Both went on to win Roland Garros.
Providing she handles the pressure and expectations generated by a loud -- but not always encouraging -- partisan crowd, Mauresmo has a strong chance.
Mauresmo's game, concentration and confidence have improved since her disappointing 6-1, 6-2 exit to top seed Serena Williams in last year's French Open quarters.
"I'm feeling well and am progressing a lot mentally and physically," she said. "Over the last three weeks my level of tennis has been a lot higher than it was last year."
"I'm learning how to handle situations better, am picking up more experience. Let's see what happens," she said.
Often hampered by injury in the past, Mauresmo heads into Roland Garros in top shape and suffered no ill effects from her 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over Jennifer Capriati in the Italian Open final Sunday.
"After beating Capriati in Rome, I recovered well," she said. "I'm well prepared in terms of rest and preventing injury. I have no worries about that."
Strasbourg Open
Defending champion Silvia Farina Elia remained on course for a fourth straight title, reaching the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues on Wednesday.
Top seed Lindsay Davenport also advanced, overcoming strong resistance to beat Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Italian Farina Elia, the No. 3 seed, now meets qualifier Milagros Sequera in the US$170,000 clay-court tournament. The Venezuelan beat American Laura Granville 6-3, 6-2.
Farina Elia's three WTA career titles have all come in the northeastern French city of Strasbourg.
Next up for American Davenport, who has 40 career WTA titles, including two this year at Tokyo and Amelia Island, is Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik, who crushed Julia Vakulenko 6-0, 6-0.
The only Grand Slam to have eluded Davenport is the French Open, which begins Monday at Roland Garros.
Meanwhile, in other play Wednesday, No. 2 Ai Sugiyama of Japan beat countrywoman Akiko Morigami 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; while Claudine Schaul of Luxembourg upset No. 5 Tina Pisnik of Slovenia, 7-5, 6-2.
No. 4 Emilie Loit beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-1, 6-2 and Barbora Strycova won 6-4, 7-6 (2) over Severine Beltrame.
Raiffeisen GP
Victor Hanescu of Romania beat Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia-Montenegro 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the US$450,000 meet.
Zimonjic, a doubles specialist who upset top-seeded Andre Agassi on Monday, showed none of the brilliance that led him over the former world No. 1.
Hanescu dominated the match Wednesday as Zimonjic made many unforced errors and lost in just over an hour.
Zimonjic blamed the loss on his failure to find his rhythm and distractions caused by several rain delays.
Also, Juergen Melzer of Austria booked his place in the quarterfinals by beating Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 7-5.
Today, Melzer will play Olivier Rochus of Belgium, who defeated Julian Knowle 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Grand Prix Hassan II
Frenchman Julien Benneteau advanced to the quarterfinals, beating defending champion and countryman Julien Boutter 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
There were also wins for No. 7 seed Thierry Ascione and Ivo Heuberger at the US$447,000 clay-court tournament.
Ascione, who next plays Benneteau, won after Argentina's Federico Browne retired at 6-2, 3-1 down. Swiss Davis Cup player Heuberger beat Italy's Simone Vagnozzi 6-3, 6-4.
Today, Dominik Hrbaty faces Oscar Hernandez; Oliver Rochus plays Antony Dupuis and Heuberger meets Spain's Santiago Ventura.
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In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
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BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
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