Eastbourne top seed Amelie Mauresmo believes she is on course to rid herself of the reputation as the nearly girl of women's tennis.

The world No. 3 from France has 17 tour titles to her name but only an endless succession of near misses in the four Grand Slam events.

Mauresmo has been a finalist just once in 29 cracks at the majors, in the Australian Open six years ago.

She has reached the semi-finals on her last two visits to Wimbledon and has made regular quarter-final appearances in the French and US Opens as well but the really big breakthrough has so far eluded her.

"I am not thinking about that yet," she insisted at Devonshire Park yesterday as she prepares for the Hastings Direct Championships. "It is a goal for me but it is still a bit far off in my mind.

"It's not such a big concern for me that I wake up every day thinking Oh my God, what's going to happen if I don't win a Grand Slam?' If I thought like that I would go mad.

"It's a process. I am into that process and we will see. I am playing better every year, that's for sure. I feel I can really improve on different areas of my game and that is what I am trying to do."

"I am doing it my own way. I am the way I am and I'm not going to change. I don't really pay attention to what people say about me or what I do in tournaments."

Mauresmo, who lives in Switzerland, likens her situation to the weight of expectation on the shoulders of Tim Henman at this time of year.

"Probably the pressure he is going through at Wimbledon is equivalent to what I feel and when I lived in France," she said. "He's having a great career but here in England people just see that he's never won Wimbledon."

Mauresmo certainly has the talent to become a Grand Slam champion. She won five titles last year, an Olympic silver medal in Athens and was world No. 1 in September.

All too often though a fragile temperament has let her down at key moments in big matches.

"Some people can deal with emotions very easily," she said. "Others need much more effort to control them. I'm probably in that category. Sometimes I need to control my emotions a little bit more."

The signs are that Mauresmo, like the wines in her cellar at home in Geneva, is maturing with age. She is a more rounded individual.

"I enjoy life on the tour much more now," she revealed. "I'll be 26 in a few weeks. When I was 20 or 22 I had trouble with travelling all the time and not being home very often.

"I now know it's a very privileged life we have. We shouldn't complain. There are some tough moments for everybody but overall it's great.

"I think I'm finding myself, not only as a tennis player but as a woman as well. That helps me to get tougher on the court."

Off court, Mauresmo devotes spare time to charity work. She is involved in the Little Dream Foundation, based in Geneva, which aims to help children achieve their ambitions, and a cancer charity in Paris.

She has also been the official ambassador for the past year of Habitat for Humanity. Mauresmo was at the launch at Eastbourne yesterday of Aces For Homes. During the next year Habitat for Humanity will donate ten Euros for every ace struck on the women's tour towards rebuilding 7,000 houses in India devastated by the Tsunami.

"We all know what happened last December," Mauresmo said. "It's very important to help people needing simple, decent places to live."

Mauresmo has no intention of displaying charity to her opponents this week. Beaten in three sets by Daniela Hantuchova on her Eastbourne debut in the semi-finals last year, she has a bye through to round two with the other top seeds, Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina and Australian Alicia Molik.

"I'm happy that I am the top seed," Mauresmo said. "I don't feel it puts extra pressure on me.

"Last year was really good for me to see how I should play on this surface and make sure I get my rhythm going before Wimbledon."

Maursemo believes she has a chance of landing her first Grand Slam success at the All England Club. "It's quite open," she said. "Justine (Henin-Hardenne) has done unbelievably well since she came back.

"Sharapova won again in Birmingham with a little trouble, not only in the final but earlier rounds as well. We don't really know how the Williams sisters are. I think I am one of the contenders as well."

If she continues to contend often enough, Mauresmo will surely remove that nearly girl tag.