Mauresmo adds Italian Open title

She beat Jennifer Capriati in the final match.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME -- With her second clay court title in two weeks, Amelie Mauresmo heads to the French Open in excellent form.
After an impressive 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over Jennifer Capriati in the Italian Open final Sunday, Mauresmo was asked the inevitable question: Can she succeed in Paris?
"I hope, we'll see. Of course, it gives you a lot of confidence to win these kind of matches, especially in the final," she said.
Added to her confidence, Mauresmo will have a partisan crowd cheering her at Roland Garros in the Grand Slam event that begins a week from Monday.
The only other women to win the German and Italian Opens back-to-back were Steffi Graf (1987) and Monica Seles (1990). Both went on to win the French.
Relieved after win
Mauresmo lost the Rome final in three of the past four years, and was clearly relieved to have finally won the title. She sank to her knees with fists clenched in the air after winning on her second match point.
Before winning in Berlin, her season was interrupted by a back injury that forced her out of the Australian Open. But now she looks to be in top form, while many other stars are sidelined.
Defending French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne has missed five weeks with a virus. Fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, twice the runner-up in Paris, is out with an injured left wrist.
Serena Williams was the top seed in Rome, but looked rusty in her run to the semifinals, where she lost 6-4, 6-4 to Capriati. Her sister, Venus, was set to play Mauresmo in the final of the German Open, but pulled out with an ankle injury.
Capriati is another player in good shape. After a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Mauresmo in the Berlin semifinals, she held a match point in Sunday's closely fought final.
Hamburg Masters
HAMBURG, Germany -- Roger Federer beat Guillermo Coria 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to win the Hamburg Masters and end the Argentine's 31-match winning streak on clay courts.
In Coria, Federer was facing the top player on clay this year, at 16-0 with two titles. Coria boasted a winning streak on the surface dating to the 2003 French Open semifinals.
"It was a very important win for me," said Federer, who also won this tournament in 2002.
He made an impressive run to the final but looked uncomfortable at the start Sunday, losing his serve in the first game. Coria used that edge to win the set, hitting a deep forehand that Federer could only put into the net.
"I had to adjust a bit to his game. I had to see how he would play," Federer said.
After taking the second and third sets, the Swiss held serve at the start of the fourth. Coria then received treatment for a blister on a finger on his racket hand.
When he returned, Coria handed Federer a break point by putting a forehand into the net. Coria then played a week drop shot that bounced high in midcourt, giving Federer all the time to put away a forehand winner and go up 2-0.
That was enough for Federer to close it out. He finished with 38 winners to Coria's 20.
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