Wednesday February 16 05:27 AM EST
Ouch! Before the eyes of her native France, where she's a famous face and an icon, lesbian tennis pro Amelie Mauresmo snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the second round of the Paris Open indoor tennis tournament February 9. Last year at this tournament, Mauresmo was defeated only in the finals and only after defeating Martina Hingis. The only tiny consolation for all concerned this time was that she lost to world#39 Sarah Pitkowski, also a French player. Fifth-seeded Mauresmo shut out unseeded Pitkowski in the first set 6 - 0 and was up 5 - 3 in the second, but Mauresmo made a series of errors and Pitkowski turned it around to take the second set 7 - 6 and then the third 6 - 2. Mauresmo said, "This defeat is 80% mental. I was not completely free on the court. And after the 6 - 0 of the first set I was tense." Tense maybe because Mauresmo almost never makes it look easy, although she had in the first round when she rolled over Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir 6 - 1! ! ! , 6 - 1. Serena Williams beat Pitkowski in the quarter-finals. The vagaries of the Women's Tennis Association point system are such that Mauresmo remained at world #14 despite her early exits