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Pierce on a high

© Michael Cecilio

There are two tournaments which spring to mind when we talk of the invincibility of Mary Pierce. The first is the 1994 French Open, where she dropped a total of 13 games up to the semi finals. In that semi final, she blasted world #1 Steffi Graf 6-2 6-2 in one of the most comprehensive defeats of Graf's career. Inexperience and the enormity of the situation caused her to lose the final to Sanchez-Vicario. The second tournament is the 1995 Australian Open where she got her revenge on Arantxa in the finals. She was unstoppable, as she did not drop a single set.

There are days when everything she hits just skips off the lines, when all the power shots are going in, all the serves are winners, and she is just bludgeoning everyone off the court. In recent years, those days seemed few and far between. But it seems that Mary is stringing more of those blissful days together, and if she keeps it up, she may be the most popular thing in Paris if she could win the French Open this year. On current form, it is safe to say that she is a likely candidate.

Pierce attributes her recent success to a number of things. Firstly, she attributes the peace and calmness of her off-court life as the primary reason for her game. Her engagement to baseball star, Roberto Alomar, has obviously gotten Mary head-over-heels, and it has translated into her game. Secondly, the change of coach from, Michael de Jongh, to her brother, David Pierce, is another reason and perhaps the most obvious reason for her success. Michael coached Mary to a consistent 1999, where she picked up some good results, but did not post any significant wins. A disappointing Australian campaign and a first round loss to Lilia Osterloh at Tokyo this year was enough to make Mary consider the change in coaching, and appointed her brother to take on the demanding role. As Mary attests, David knows her game as well as she does, having watched her play from day one. She also attests that David is probably the coach who makes her work the hardest, and most certainly, the hard work is paying off. Since their partnership, Mary beat Serena Williams at Indian Wells and she defeated Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario en route to her title at Hilton Head two weeks ago. Thirdly, she claims the risky laser eye surgery she had to improve her eyesight produced miracles on court, helping her to see the ball better and to anticipate quicker than she ever has before. After losing in Tokyo, Mary took the trip to San Diego to have the surgery, and ever since, the results have been coming in.

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