Clouds clear to let Mauresmo show her class

On a difficult day at the All England Club yesterday as rain fell heavily, spectators huddled in winter clothing and cheered themselves up by doing a Mexican-wave with umbrellas on the Centre Court, while the 27- year-old Frenchwoman handled the problems she had to face with admirable poise.

After hanging around the locker room for two hours waiting for the rain to stop and the skies to clear, she emerged to the applause of a grateful and stoically patient English crowd to treat them to an impressive, if predictable, display of what it takes to win in the most celebrated tennis arena of them all.

Her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mara Santangelo of Italy, the No 28 seed, was comprehensive.

By reaching the second week of the tournament, dropping only 10 games in the process, the most athletic figure in women's tennis had achieved her first objective.

During a troubled year in which she had her appendix removed and then suffered a strained groin which affected her at the French Open, she is working her way back to form and fitness — and looking more dangerous by the match.

No wonder her mood was upbeat as she looked forward to a probable fourth-round meeting with No 14 seed Nicole Vaidisova. "I'd give myself eight or nine out of 10 for that performance," said Mauresmo.

"I thought I played some really good, going-forward kind of tennis. That's what's been working well for me here. So I'll just keep going."

She even congratulated herself on coping with the frustrations of the British weather. "I'm happy because I handled that part pretty well," she added. "I didn't really know when we were going to go on because it didn't really look that good.

"I'm just glad that I was able to go on and finish quickly so that I have this third round behind me."

Her priority was not to race too far ahead."We'll see whether I can win the tournament again," she said.

"It's still pretty open this women's championships. But it's been open for a few years now — not only here but in all the Grand Slams. So I'm not really thinking about that right now.

"In my mind I'm confident about how I play and how I played today — and about what I'm going to have to do in my next match."

Mauresmo can be assured that she will face far tougher struggles in defence of her title during the second week.

Santangelo may be an accomplished doubles player, who celebrated her first Grand Slam title by winning the French Open with Alicia Molik of Australia last month, but her world No 29 ranking merely illustrates the vast gulf between the best players and those outside the top 10.

Although the woman from Cavalese constructed the occasional impressive rally, her play was littered with careless errors and wild shots that flew several feet outside the court.

In contrast to Mauresmo's ability and understanding of grass-court tennis, Santangelo was merely there as a hitting partner, someone to make the Frenchwoman look good and in that respect she certainly did her job.

When the match finally began under threatening skies at 2.55 p.m. Mauresmo soon made up for lost time, breaking the Santangelo serve in the second game and surging into a commanding lead.

Her dominance was underlined in the fifth game when she thundered down three aces to take the game to love, before going on to clinch the set 6-1 with yet another ace in 25 minutes of one-sided action.

Santangelo raised her spirits by breaking the Mauresmo serve at the start of the second set, featuring an excellent forehand down the line, to take her to break point.

But any suggestion that the match would be turning in her favour was soon dispelled as Mouresmo immediately broke back and allowed her opponent only one more game, finishing it with her 11th ace of the match.

The dark clouds that threatened to curtail the contest had held off long enough for the Centre Court crowd to enjoy a completed match.

But it was an exhibition rather than a contest, with Mauresmo looking as if she is ready give a worthy defence of her title — and maybe even retain it.