No spotlight on Mauresmo
WIMBLEDON, England — Amelie Mauresmo is perfectly happy staying out of the spotlight at Wimbledon.
The Frenchwoman doesn't mind that she's playing amid little fanfare this year, despite being the defending champion.
After the traditional Centre Court start as the reigning titleholder, fourth-seeded Mauresmo was shunted to Court 2 on Thursday and dispatched Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round.
She likes the change from Roland Garros, where the two-time major champion and former No. 1 has felt the pressure from home fans to deliver a championship.
"It feels like I've always been (keeping a low profile) here at Wimbledon because the attention is so high at the French Open," Mauresmo said. "To me, it always feels like it's very easy here."
Her record bears that out. Before last year's title, Mauresmo had reached three successive semifinals at Wimbledon. She's only gone as far as the quarterfinals at the French Open.
The odds were against her this year at Roland Garros. Mauresmo was sidelined for about two months following an appendectomy in March and had a groin problem that contributed to a third-round exit.
To make sure something similar doesn't happen again, Mauresmo pulled out of the doubles at Wimbledon.
"I just don't want to take any risk for the singles," she said.
On Friday, top-ranked Roger Federer was to face two-time major champion Marat Safin in the third round. Federer needed only 11 minutes to complete his rain-suspended match against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 for his 50th straight win on grass.
Also, No. 2 Andy Roddick and No. 5 Fernando Gonzalez were on the schedule, as were top-seeded Justine Henin, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 7 Serena Williams and No. 9 Martina Hingis.
Federer, the four-time defending champ at Wimbledon, led 2-0 in the third set before rain halted play. When they resumed Thursday, he finished off Del Potro, winning three straight games before the Argentine held serve.
"It was done quickly like I was hoping, but I was ready to go five sets in case," said Federer, who is trying to become only the second man in the Open era to win five straight titles at the All England Club.
Safin beat Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to advance.
No. 2 Rafael Nadal also won, beating Werner Eschauer of Austria 6-2, 6-4, 6-1, and moved into the third round with No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 9 James Blake.
On the women's side, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova and three-time winner Venus Williams advanced. The second-seeded Russian defeated 2006 quarterfinalist Severine Bremond of France 6-0, 6-3, while Williams beat Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2.
Sharapova played on Centre Court, which is without a roof this year for the first time.
