THE TennisReporters.net NEWSLETTER: THURSDAY, JUNE 2, NO. 129
Renewed Pierce goes for miracle
David Pierce on Papa Jim: 'He's changed drastically. He's repentant'

By Sandra Harwitt, Special to TennisReporters.net

FROM ROLAND GARROS – For Mary Pierce, 30, life is all about faith and believing.

She's certainly kept the faith well enough to work her way all the way to a third Roland Garros final on Thursday afternoon, beating 16th-seed Elena Likhovtseva in a 6-1, 6-1 wipe-out in under an hour in the semifinals. She downed top-seed Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals, ninth-seed Vera Zvonareva in the third round and eighth-seed Patty Schnyder in the fourth round. She'll play Justine Henin-Hardenne, who defeated Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-3, in Saturday's final.

When asked what it would feel like to win another Grand Slam title - she won the '95 Australian Open in 19 and '00 Roland Garros – Pierce said, "That would be unbelievable. I'd probably just sit here and not know what to say. I believe in myself, and the few people that believe in me that I have in my life have really helped me a lot to get where I am. That's why I'm here today, is because I had something inside of me when I had my injuries that was telling me, 'You're not done.' There's still something for you to do in tennis."

It was 10 years ago that Pierce first blasted her into the final in Paris, blowing through Steffi Graf before losing to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the final. But she persevered and returned to center stage here in 2000, taking out Monica Seles in the quarterfinals, No. 1 Martina Hingis in the semifinals and Conchita Martinez in the final for the title.

Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com

Mary Pierce is taking a load of experience in the Roland Garros final.

"Five years ago, you could say, [I was] at the top of my game," Pierce said. "Physically, at 25, you're not too young where you don't have any experience and you're not too old where physically you recover pretty well. "[In] my first final, [I was] so nervous. Couldn't sleep the night before. I'm like, 'Oh, my gosh, my French isn't that great and I have to do a speech in French. What am I going to say?' I was just kind of out there and just going for every ball.

"[Today], I'm just like everybody else. I just play tennis. I work hard and I do the best that I can every day on the court and also off the court. I have a lot of experience behind me on the court and off the court as well."

Having come through a period of time after winning the French Open when injuries stalled her progress, Pierce has found that at 30 she's still loves to play and wants to stay with it as long as she's healthy and physically capable.

Through all the ups-and-downs of life, Pierce has clearly become a more evolved and reflective person. She admits that it's her faith that guides her life; it helps her to maintain a comfortable equilibrium to life, not to mention keeps her strong desire to continue playing alive.

BROTHER SIGNS ON AS COACH
One decision that Pierce made last August was to ask her brother, David, a massage therapist and tennis pro, to travel the tour with her full-time as her coach. David had never had an interest in playing the tour full-time, preferring to work with recreational players, most especially to coach children who understand the joy of simply just playing a game.

"It's easy to be her coach, we're brother and sister and we get along," said David, 15 months older that his illustrious sister. "I'm here for her only. I think she became tired of just traveling with a stranger. And she knows I'm not interested in getting paid. It's good to know the person that is with you is there for pure love."

Faith has led the Pierce siblings to reconciliation with their father, Jim, who was long noted as the tennis parent from hell, to the extent he was banned from attending tour events.

"I hadn't seen him for six years and one day I was driving in Bradenton, and I realized he was in my rearview mirror," David said of his father. "Bradenton is a small place and we'd run into each other. Over time, wounds heal and you find forgiveness through God. Without him, you can't do anything in life. Well, you can, but it's like you're swimming against the river instead of with the river."

David Pierce also says of Jim Pierce, "He's changed drastically. He's repentant. He's a kinder, gentler person, and he's in his twilight years."

WORKING ON LOWER BODY STRENGTH
Pierce has re-focused her workouts. According to her brother, Mary is working especially hard on lower body strength to become more explosive and cover the court better.

Her final opponent, Henin-Hardenne, who owns a perfect 3-0 match record without dropping a set to Pierce, has taken note of Pierce's physical improvement.

"I think she's in great shape right now," Henin-Hardenne said. "And mentally she's very strong because she loves to play here at the French Open. She won it a few years ago, so she has a great motivation to go to the final and then try to win this tournament. So it's going to be a tough mission."

Now that Pierce has made the Roland Garros final at 30, after first making the trip to the final here at age 20, it's hard not to admire the longevity of her career. She joins a few other well-known names who had long-term range at Roland Garros.

Chris Evert first reached a Roland Garros final in 1973, where she lost to Margaret Court. Evert went on to win on nine of 11 occasions in Paris, taking her last title in 1986. Graf played and won her first Roland Garros final in 1987 over Martina Navratilova. In all, Graf played in nine Roland Garros finals, won six, with her last victory coming in 1999. Sanchez Vicario played in six Roland Garros finals, winning her first in 1989, then in 1994 and her last in 1998.

While tennis is a passion, Pierce acknowledges that the simpler joys of life are just as rewarding. So while she'll be hoping that she'll hoist the trophy once again on Saturday afternoon, she always knows that there's more to life than winning, saying, "When I come back home and I hear the raindrops or when I see my dogs playing together, there are a lot of things - like kissing people I love."