Mauresmo faces toughest challenge at French Open

Amelie Mauresmo's bid to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win all four grand slam titles in the same year faces its biggest test at the French Open.

The world number one will enjoy home advantage in the claycourt event at Roland Garros from next Sunday, but that has proved more of a hindrance than a help in the past.

The 26-year-old, who ended her long wait for a maiden grand slam title by winning the Australian Open at the start of the year, has always been an under-achiever on the Paris clay.

Mauresmo has never reached the last four at Roland Garros and suffered one of the worst defeats of her career there in 2001 when she was knocked out in the first round by German Jana Kandarr after starting the tournament as hot favourite.

She has had mixed fortunes on the slow surface so far this year.

Mauresmo's claycourt season started with a Fed Cup defeat against Italy in April when she beat Flavia Pennetta but lost disappointingly to Francesca Schiavone.

At the Berlin Open this month she went down 6-1 6-2 to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semi-finals. She then pulled out of the Rome Masters with a sore throat, meaning she is a little short of match practice going into the grand slam.

But the Geneva-based Mauresmo believes the boost of breaking her grand slam duck this year will help her to finally deliver in front of her home crowd.

"I think the way I'm handling things now, having won in Australia and (at the Tour Championships last November) in Los Angeles, gives me a lot of confidence," she said.