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Mary Pierce Profile |
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Birth Date: January 15, 1975
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Birth Place: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Birth Name: Mary Pierce
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Height: 5'10"
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Biography |
Mary Pierce was born on January 15th, 1975, in Montreal,
Canada while her mother was on a trip to the city. She never
lived in Montreal but maintains an affinity with the people
there whenever the WTA tour makes a stop for the Canadian
Open. During her childhood, her father Jim initiated Pierce
into the sport of tennis.
With his guidance and prodding, she blossomed into a
talented player, but the pressure to perform to his standard
was intense. Pierce was raised in a sheltered environment,
where her performance on the court was the sole barometer of
her worth. Her father put everything he had into her success
and as the stakes were raised, he supposedly became abusive.
His behavior later got him expelled from the WTA tour and
Pierce expelled him as coach after tiring of the emotional
and physical abuse.
Pierce made her professional debut at the tender age of 14,
a record that stood until Jennifer Capriati broke it at the
Hilton Head tournament in 1989. She made a minimal impact on
tour until she cracked the top ten for the first time in
1994. The next year Pierce made waves when she was
victorious in Melbourne at the Australian Open and she
became the first French woman to capture a Major win since
1967.
The dream of winning for her native France however, was
finally realized in 2000 when Pierce won at Roland Garros in
Paris. Pierce had never received universal acceptance in the
country of her mother due to her residence in Florida, but
the entire nation celebrated the win en masse.
Pierce now maintains a residence in Paris, France, but calls
her lavish residence in Florida with New York Mets superstar
Roberto Alomar home. After suffering from debilitating
injuries during the past two seasons, Pierce hopes that the
last few years of her career will result in at least one
more shot at a Grand Slam victory. |
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Other
Information |
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French tennis player. She won 2 grand slam titles
(Australian Open in 1995 and French Open in 2000), reached 4
other finals in the grand slam (French Open in 1994 and
2005, US Open in 2005 and Australian Open in 1997), won 18
other tournaments and was ranked number 3 in the world. |
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