Mauresmo overcomes Dechy in three sets

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo overcame fellow Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 4-6 6-3 6-2 to advance to the second round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

Mauresmo, seeded 32nd, avenged a semi-final loss by Dechy in Cincinnati earlier this month by turning her game up a notch from the second set.

She wore down Dechy with her groundstrokes in a match where both players struggled to hold serve.

The 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion broke serve 10 times and Dechy had seven breaks in the battle between the 29-year-olds. Mauresmo committed 12 double faults and Dechy 11.

"I'm not really happy about the way I played, just happy about the win," Mauresmo told Reuters. "We were both tight. It's never easy to play against another Frenchwoman.

"I will have to step up to another level in the next one."

The victory put Mauresmo into a second-round match against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.

Mauresmo said she was keen to avenge the defeat by Dechy.

"I was really looking forward not to lose to the same player twice in a row and especially this close to the defeat. So I'm happy about that," Mauresmo said.

Mauresmo, twice a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows, said the lack of a dominant player on the women's tour has given her hope of wining more grand slam titles.

"It is pretty open. No one is really dominating the game like it used to be before," she said. "I think it could give me an opportunity to come back to a great level. We'll see.

"It's not my goal to be number one again. To be number one you have to play a lot and I won't do this anymore. Grand slams is more possible, more of a goal for me."

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)