She is half a man.” Or in German: “Sie ist ein halber Mann.”Mauresmo’s coach, Christophe Fournerie, told Channel Seven television. “She has the feeling that she played really well and she did well, so she’s surprised that the number one and the number two in the world could talk about her like that. She is also openly gay and speaks freely about her relationship with a woman who travels with her on the tour.
But the player was said by her coach to be angered by comments from Davenport and a remark attributed to defending champion Martina Hingis, whom she will play in today’s women’s final.Hingis was quoted as saying in a German-language news conference on Thursday: “She travels with her girlfriend. The 19-year-old Mauresmo has powerful shoulders and a game to match. She saw off the world No 1, Lindsay Davenport, in the semi-finals on Thursday with a fearsome display of power tennis. THE WORLD’S top two women players have denied they were talking about anything but tennis when they said Australian Open finalist Amelie Mauresmo was like a man.

Robert Smith (in 1997) and Di Lampard (last year) earned their places on championship squads through the trials and both went on to achieve the best score for the British team.VENUES FOR INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM TRIALS (show jumping): Royal Windsor Horse Show (15 May), Suffolk County Show, Ipswich (2-3 June), Royal International Horse Show, Hickstead (7-11 July).. Believing that he had the best horse in the country in Virtual Village It’s Otto, he was confident of gaining one of the two places chosen by the selectors.The revised rules mean that Billington will have to take the trials seriously in order to be considered for the Great Britain team for this year’s European Show Jumping Championships.The trials have produced satisfactory results. They will join three others (Andrew Davies, Jane Annett and John Renwick), who have already qualified through the long- standing series of Area International Trials.
Last year Geoff Billington declined to compete in the championship trials, which decided three of the five places on the British squad for the World Equestrian Games. The results of the first two trials – at Windsor and the Suffolk County Show at Ipswich – will replace the rider rankings as qualification for the Royal International, with the top 12 riders gaining entry to the Hickstead show, where the last of the three championship trials will take place in July. Smith, who spent almost two weeks in hospital after his injury, completed his first proper jump earlier this month.Colin Jackson, who retained his European high hurdles title last summer, is a clear favourite for the 60m hurdles title, having warmed up for the event by winning over that distance in Karlsruhe, where he clocked 7.47sec.Du’Aine Ladejo, the former European 400m champion who is now concentrating on the decathlon, is among the other competitors due to contest the event, as is Paul Gray, the 1994 Commonwealth high hurdles bronze medallist..

SHOW JUMPING riders wishing to compete in the Royal International Horse Show and the European Championships, which are both to be held at Hickstead this year, will be obliged to compete in at least one of the preceding International Championship Team Trials. Campbell says he doesn’t want to beat his coach, which is very thoughtful of him.The longer sprint looks like being just as competitive as the 60 metres, given that it is also due to include 400 metres runners Solomon Wariso, who returned from warm weather training in California just over a week ago, and Jamie Baulch.In the high jump, Olympic bronze medallist Steve Smith is planning to take part in his first competition since he injured his neck in a training accident last July. Winners will qualify automatically, assuming they have qualifying marks.Jo Wise, who like Hansen won a Commonwealth title last September, is an entrant for the women’s long jump.While Christie runs the shorter distance, Campbell is concentrating on tomorrow’s 200 metres event, which Malcolm is also intending to contest. Steve Cram, the former world record holder for the mile, will be making his commentating debut for BBC, who cover their first domestic athletics meeting since 1985.Cram was commentating for Channel 4 last season but has been signed up by the Beeb since they took over the athletics contract last autumn in a five-year deal thought to be worth around pounds 15m.The man who used to be known as the Jarrow Arrow will be working alongside David Coleman, who at the age of 72 is “cutting back on his commentary” according to a BBC spokesman.Ashia Hansen, who won the European indoor triple jump last year in a world record, is due to gauge her current form in what serves as the official trial for the World Indoor Championships to be held in Maebashi, Japan, in March.