Mauresmo: No. 1 in the World, Unknown in U.S.

Sept. 7, 2006— -- Do you know who the world's top-ranked woman's tennis player is?

No?

You're not the only one. Here in the United States she isn't much seen or talked about beyond the sports pages. And even there, she doesn't get much ink.

Her name is Amelie Mauresmo. She's French. She won at Wimbledon in July, and for years, sports writers have called her one of the world's most interesting women tennis players.

"She's a magnificent athlete. She's subtle and she has power," veteran tennis writer-commentator Bud Collins told ABC News. "She's marvelous to watch."

"She is a radiant person," he continued. "Lots of confidence in herself. She's attractive, she's smart and a terrific woman."

There's another aspect to her character, which Collins told us he no longer bothers to write about because it's not an issue.

In 1999, at the age of 19, Mauresmo, responding to insults that had surfaced in the media, revealed that she was gay. Talking about her sexual orientation openly, she said her love for her girlfriend, who at the time was Sylvie Bourdon, greatly helped her game.

Anti-gay barbs of a surprising and very public nature had come from other women tennis stars, most famously from Martina Hingis, who called Mauresmo "half a man" after Mauresmo defeated her.

"She never 'came out' -- she was always out," said Collins. "She's very straightforward about it."

Having won two legs of tennis' Grand Slam, the Australian Open and Wimbledon, earlier this year, Mauresmo, 27, is currently the world's No. 1 ranked woman player and the top seed at the U.S. Open, now under way in New York. On Wednesday she cruised into the tournament's semi-final round after beating 12th seeded Dinara Safina, 6-2, 6-3.

The U.S. Open, of course, opened last week with a special tribute to tennis great -- and open lesbian -- Billie Jean King. The United States Tennis Association renamed the Flushing Meadows, Queens, tennis center after her (the main stadium inside the complex bears the name of the late great Arthur Ashe).