The tension between them had nothing to do with the way Hingis won her third consecutive Australian title Saturday, 6-2, 6-3, or the way Mauresmo fought back at the end before yielding on the seventh match point.

RATHER, IT WAS ABOUT a comment Hingis was reported to have made -- and which she denied -- about the 19-year-old Mauresmo's openly lesbian relationship over the past year with another Frenchwoman.

Mauresmo is the first player on the women's tour since Martina Navratilova to talk publicly about being a lesbian. She said she moved to Saint Tropez last year to live with girlfriend Sylvie Bourdon, 31, who cheered her from the players' box at the Australian Open this week.

"At last, I'm clear in my head, clear in my mind, clear in my life, and it shows in my tennis," Mauresmo said in speaking of her decision to be open about her life with Bourdon.

Bourdon said it was "absolutely natural" for them to be open, rather than hide anything.

"We both said, 'Let's go,' and I think it's much better that way," Bourdon said. "It makes life simpler. ... Acknowledging this relationship makes her stronger in her own life and on the court."

AND MAURESMO HAD TO BE strong to deal with what happened in the two days leading up to the final.

Hingis was asked after the semifinals about the difference between Mauresmo now and when they played last year in a Federation Cup match.

"She's here with her girlfriend. She's half a man," Hingis was reported to have said in German.

On the same day, Lindsay Davenport said she thought at times she was playing against a man in her loss to Mauresmo.

The remarks by Hingis and Davenport were widely reported in the press and on television.

While Hingis denied the "half a man" comment, Davenport angrily insisted the next day that she was referring only to Mauresmo's muscular play, especially the way she slugged one-handed topspin backhands unlike other women.

AFTER THE FINAL, HINGIS said she had "nothing to apologize for," and refused to talk about the issue.

Mauresmo sought to brush aside the situation, saying that "all that has been happening these past days is a little stupid. Both of them apologized, so I don't want to talk about it anymore."

But Mauresmo's coach, Christophe Fournerie, insisted there was much more to it than that.

"I'd like to make a distinction between Davenport, who not only apologized but also wrote a personal note to Amelie, and Hingis' behavior, which was disappointing," Fournerie said. "And I can tell you that Amelie told her that on the court today."

Davenport was disappointed because she felt what she said had been taken out of context, Fournerie said. That wasn't the case with Hingis, he said.

"IN FACT, SHE SAID THAT Amelie was half a man because she lived with a woman, and that's not acceptable," Fournerie said. "It would be better if she reflected a little before speaking. Maybe it's because she's still very young but, after all, she's got certain responsibilities given the position she holds in the world of tennis."

Fournerie said Davenport sent "a very heartfelt note," saying how sad she was, and "Amelie was delighted with it."

"But there was nothing from Hingis," he said. "Even this morning, nothing. ... Maybe it got Amelie up a little more for the match. It hurt her, but it motivated her as well. It would hurt anybody, and it's just unacceptable to make that kind of statement."

Bourdon, who runs a restaurant in Saint Tropez, on the French Riviera, said she met Mauresmo last year through a mutual friend, former French player Isabelle Demongeot.

"Things happened very quickly," Bourdon said. "It was like lightning striking, love at first sight. Our relationship arrived at a key moment in her life.

"A BALANCED LOVE LIFE obviously brings positive things into anybody's life. A champion isn't two people, she's one. When you're confident in your private life, that confidence spills over onto the court."

The relationship, Mauresmo said, has strained her relationship with her family.

"I'm not close to my parents," she said.

Former player Pam Shriver, now a television commentator, said Mauresmo has been uninhibited in embracing Bourdon around the tournament.

"Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King would probably have liked to have been so open," Shriver said. "Times have moved on since Martina, and it's a pretty liberal world now, although there are still some conservative people around."