Home » Sports » Women's Tennis » More cheers and no jeers for the "French" Mary Pierce

More cheers and no jeers for the "French" Mary Pierce

© Michael Cecilio

It had been a long time coming, but the day finally arrived when Mary Pierce stepped up onto the podium to receive her first French Open crown - her second Grand Slam trophy - only to be overwhelmed with the benevolent support from the crowd, her home crowd. It was about time.

Mary always had the makings of a great player, she just had a lot of trouble justifying her talent on the court. In fact, her talent was often misrepresented by laxness and maybe even indifference at various stages in her career. Her booming first serve, her effective kick second serve, her powerful backhand and her even more powerful forehand had always been a sight to behold when she was on her game. Baseline winners and service aces would flow from her racquet like a waterfall - when she was on her game. When she was off her game, you wouldn't be surprised to find her hitting the back fence more than once in a single game. Such is the unpredictability of Mary Pierce. The Goran Ivanisevic of the women's game? Quite possibly. Goran had the shots to win the big titles, but only when he was on. Even when he was on, he lacked the mental toughness to see him through seven tough matches at a Grand Slam.

While Goran remains with his volatile on-court temperament (certainly entertainment-plus for the spectators), Mary has improved her temperament remarkably. Since her "comeback" into tennis in 1997, the year she reached her second Australian Open final, Mary has slowly been building up the consistency and mentality which would allow her to win the titles her talent was always begging her to win. Certainly, the wait for another major title had been a long time coming, but if she had not been spectacular, she was most definitely consistent. Or at least increasing in consistency. Mary entered the year 2000 on the heels of the most consistent season of her career in 1999, having reached two Grand Slam quarter finals and finishing the year at #5. Consistency was increasing, but the best was yet to come.

How remarkable it was to witness Mary finally redeeming herself to her French crowd at Roland Garros! The Roland Garros crowd made it no secret that they wanted a French champion, even if it was a French-American champion. Born to an American father and a French mother, Mary had never been completely accepted into the hearts of the French the way someone like Amelie Mauresmo has been, someone who is considered authentically French. Like Mary's game, the crowd had been rather volatile in the past. As she puts it herself, if she won matches, she was the French Mary Pierce. If she lost, especially if she lost meekly as she had done at Roland Garros for the past three years, she was the American Mary Pierce. A little unfair, maybe a little savage, but hey! That's the French crowd for you - tough and unyielding, yet very passionate and knowledgeable about the game.

The copyright of the article More cheers and no jeers for the "French" Mary Pierce in Women's Tennis is owned by Michael Cecilio. Permission to republish More cheers and no jeers for the "French" Mary Pierce in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.