Amelie Mauresmo reached the Dubai Open final in a bizarre match which featured a cat, faulty scoreboards and an opponent who gave up injured.
Wimbledon champ Mauresmo reached yesterday's final, where she was due to face French Open winner Justine Henin, when her semi-final opponent Jelena Jankovic, the world No. 11 from Serbia, twisted an ankle after dropping the first set 6-2.
But Mauresmo's win came in strange circumstances.
PHOTO: EPA
A cat twice came on to court, causing laughter and brief delays.
Almost immediately the umpire called the score wrong, a mistake complicated by two scoreboards displaying it differently.
It was not till two points later that Mauresmo, who was actually 40-15 up but only standing at 30-30 according to the insistent official, queried the mistake, then refused to continue and sat in her chair.
PHOTO: AP
This brought the arrival of Alan Mills, the former Wimbledon referee, though it was not until Jankovic appeared to check the correct score with someone courtside, that agreement was reached.
Jankovic later suggested that the delay, which lasted five minutes, had affected her concentration.
Only four points afterwards she stumbled badly while launching a backhand counter-drive, twisting her left ankle while trying to avoid a fall.
She then lay on the court covering her face before having the injury extensively bandaged. Despite a 10-minute delay for repairs she could play only five more points, forced by the pain to stop at the end of the set.
"I would have played on even on one foot, and even if my other foot had been three times the size, but my mum called out to me to stop," Jankovic said.
Mauresmo was asked if she had ever seen a trio of similar events and replied: "The cat -- no; the score -- in the juniors maybe; but the most serious thing was the injury. It didn't look that bad and I hoped it isn't."
Mauresmo will be chasing her second title in a week after winning the Antwerp title last Sunday.
Earlier Henin produced her best performance in six matches since her comeback, recovering from a set down to beat Russian world No.5 Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-6, 6-4, 6-0.
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