Factbox on twice grand slam winner and former world number one Amelie Mauresmo who announced her retirement on Thursday:
Early days
* Born on July 5, 1979 in St Germain en Laye, France.
* Started playing tennis at the age of four after being inspired by compatriot Yannick Noah winning the 1983 French Open.
Career start
* Turned professional in 1997.
* Breakthrough year came in 1999 when she reached the final of the Australian Open as an unseeded player, beating top seed Lindsay Davenport before losing to Martina Hingis. Won her first title in Bratislava.
Tennis highlights
* Won the 2000 Sydney International, beating world number one Hingis in the semi-finals and number two Davenport in the final.
* Surpassed Mary Pierce as top-ranked Frenchwoman in 2001 after a 16-match winning streak earned three successive titles in Paris, Nice and Amelia Island.
* Helped France to second Fed Cup title in 2003.
* Suffered an injury-plagued 2004 but still won a silver medal at Athens Olympics and became the first Frenchwoman to take world number one ranking in September of same year.
* Mauresmo, showing one of the best backhands on tour, won her first grand slam title at the 2006 Australian Open after Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne retired in the final through illness.
* Became the first Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925 to win the Wimbledon singles, again defeating Henin-Hardenne in the final.
* Following her Antwerp Diamond Games victory in 2007 she took longer than expected to recover from an appendectomy and suffered a series of injuries.
* Mauresmo spent a long time in the wilderness and thought about quitting before storming back to claim the Paris Open title in February 2009.
* Lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon and did not play again after losing to Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak in the second round of the US Open in September.
* Ends career with 25 WTA Tour singles crowns.
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