Although Mauresmo admitted later that the criticism from other players and the WTA was painful, she took it in stride, preferring to battle it out on the court instead of in the press. When she defeated Hingis a few years later, she was gracious, telling newspapers "Winning against the world number one is great, I think she's a very good player."

In 2000, she donated her $6700 doubles winnings to a child in Rome who had been injured in a car accident. Her season that year and 2001 was shortened due to a recurring back injury. This year, she collected a silver medal for France at the Olympics; was named an official ambassador for Habitat for Humanity; accepted a Commitment to Community award for her contributions to the Phil Collins Little Dreams Foundation and the Curie Institute of France (for cancer research); and went from number four to number one in the world.

In spite of love, yoga, working out like a fiend, winning a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, and being number one in the world, a Grand Slam tournament title eludes her. But every defeat, coming just steps from the finals, is met with a mixture of humbleness and sportsmanship, typically stated simply as her game “wasn’t good enough today.”

This might seem unexpected from a young woman who was christened her country’s “la nouvelle coqueluche” or “new darling” when a 75-foot-high poster of her loomed over the French Open five years ago.

Five years after her very public coming-out, Mauresmo's sexual orientation is old news in tennis. Mauresmo is still open about her sexual orientation, but after she broke up with Bourdon in 2000, she was more private about her subsequent two-year relationship with Pascal Arribe (although she did pose for the cover of Paris Match magazine with the headline "I've found the woman of my life"). That relationship ended in March, shortly after Mauresmo lost her father to cancer, an event which "made me grow up," she told reporters.

The casual references to Mauresmo's sexual orientation by the commentators during the U.S. Open this month are consistent with how matter-of-factly the media generally treats the topic now. So far, however, Mauresmo has not inspired any other closeted lesbian tennis players to come out, an indication of the hurdles still faced by lesbians in tennis, as well as female players of all sexual orientations who don't adhere to narrow standards of femininity.

But Mauresmo's contribution to both women's tennis and lesbian visibility remains significant. Everyone from jaded sports hacks to Martina Navratilova have expressed their belief that this unrealized star will take her place among the greats with a major tournament win. Now that she is number one, Mauresmo faces the difficult task of defending her position, but she's never been more ready.

Whether the world of women's tennis is ready for an out lesbian at the top of the ranks, however, remains to be seen. But Mauresmo is living proof that success is indeed the best revenge.

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