Amelie Mauresmo & Sylvie Bourdon		Articles/Text Photos Add info
French Tennis player Amelie Mauresmo came out during the 1999 Australian Open where she told the press about her girlfriend Sylvie Bourdon. From an Amelie fan-site: What did Amélie and Sylvie say about their open relationship ? "You can say she is my girlfriend. You can write about her.", Amélie said at the Australian Open 99. "There were a few moments when I said, 'Maybe I should have stayed private,' " she said. Then she remembered her life of a year ago, when she was involved in a relationship with another player and would grope for palatable lies whenever the subject of boyfriends was broached by an interviewer. "I wasn't myself," Mauresmo said. "I don't want to hide Sylvie. I love her." "Looking up at Sylvie during the matches was that little extra support that I needed," Mauresmo told reporters "Finding Sylvie and having such a good personal life now has made the difference in my tennis. It had been the missing part of my life." "At last, I'm clear in my head, clear in my mind, clear in my life, and it shows in my tennis," Mauresmo said in speaking of her decision to be open about her life with Bourdon. Bourdon said it was "absolutely natural" for them to be open, rather than hide anything. "We both said, 'Let's go,' and I think it's much better that way," Bourdon said. "It makes life simpler. ... Acknowledging this relationship makes her stronger in her own life and on the court." How and when did Amélie and Sylvie Bourdon meet for the first time ? Mauresmo met 32 year old Bourdon at a party on Nov. 5 in Saint-Tropez, where Bourdon's family owns a popular nightspot called "Le Gorille". Bourdon said she met Mauresmo 1998 through a mutual friend, former French player Isabelle Demongeot. "Things happened very quickly," Bourdon said. "It was like lightning striking, love at first sight. Our relationship arrived at a key moment in her life." "I moved to St. Tropez from Paris to be with my girlfriend, Sylvie Bourdon", she told French journalists, and feels that traveling together has kept her happy and relaxed. Amelie broke up with Sylvie earlier this year (2002) and now has another girlfriend. She has said that she wants to be more private about this new relationship.