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Most people can only dream of what she has. A successful, glamorous, wealthy, international star with a high-profile boyfriend, Mary Pierce is living the dream life. Attracting attention wherever she goes with her tall, slim physique and her trademark blonde mane, she is one of the biggest drawcards on the Sanex WTA tour for tournament directors and fans alike. She may flaunt it off-court but she certainly knows how to whip up a frenzy on-court. Mary is a consistent Top 10 player, in fact she currently stands at a lofty ranking of #6. She has won 13 career singles titles, including the biggest title of her career at the 1995 Australian Open.
There is nothing unenviable about winning a Grand Slam singles title. Anyone in professional tennis would kill to taste Grand Slam success. However, we all wonder whether Mary had/has the ability to win another title to add to her Australian Open crown. Before the time that Mary had turned professional in the late 1980's, the women's tour had been dominated by players who opted to play conservative baseline games. By the time that Mary was introduced to the professional ranks, the tour was slowly but surely evolving with the advent of the power-hitters. Steffi Graf and Monica Seles were at the forefront of this high-risk aggressive game, with Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce also displaying raw hard-hitting talent. But while Steffi, Monica and Jennifer were dominating the rankings and the titles, Mary was nowhere to be seen. Still lacking the maturity to develop her game, Mary did not come to realise her talent until much later in her career. Many pinpoint the lack of progression to her domineering father, Jim, who first taught Mary to blast every single ball at the baseline and to react quickly by serving hard to her from the service line. While he gave her the foundation of her tennis game, his aggressive tactics were often criticised, with coaching turning abusive - even allegedly violent at some stages of the father/coach relationship. Her unhappiness, maybe even distress, off-court was there for many to see on-court as Mary would often beat herself up in matches. The game plan against Mary was to return her solid, powerful shots in any way possible and Mary would in turn find away to self-destruct. Well, they say what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, and Mary believes that her father's aggressive, domineering coaching helped her to become mentally stronger for her matches - however, no one said that it was the right thing to do.
The copyright of the article Tearing herself to Pierces in Women's Tennis is owned by Michael Cecilio. Permission to republish Tearing herself to Pierces in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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