Mary Pierce

Mary Pierce (born January 15 1975, in Montreal, Canada) is a professional tennis player. She has appeared in six Grand Slam singles finals during her career – winning two of them – and also claimed two Grand Slam doubles titles.

Pierce in 2005

In 2005, Pierce reached the French Open singles final for a third time, where she lost 6-1, 6-1 to Justine Henin-Hardenne. She confirmed that the appearance, which followed victories over higher-ranked players including No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, was no fluke when she reached the quarter-finals of the 2005 Wimbledon tournament for the first time since 1996. Pierce faced Venus Williams in the quarter-final and lost the match after a thrilling second set tiebreak consisting of 22 points. Pierce also won the mixed-doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering Mahesh Bhupathi. On August 7, Pierce won her first singles title of the year at San Diego, defeating Ai Sugiyama in the final. Pierce then reached the final of the US Open. In the fourth round, she defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne for the first time in her career and avenged her French Open final defeat by winning 6-3, 6-4. In the quater-finals, Pierce outclassed third seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-1 to reach her first US Open semi-final. After the victory Pierce remarked: "I'm 30 and I have been on the tour for 17 years and there are still firsts for me. That's pretty amazing." She reached the final by defeating Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. In the final, she lost to Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-1.

Related Topics:
2005 - Justine Henin-Hardenne - Lindsay Davenport - 1996 - Venus Williams - Mahesh Bhupathi - San Diego - Ai Sugiyama - Amelie Mauresmo - Elena Dementieva - Kim Clijsters

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Pierce's return to form in 2005 has been one of the most pleasantly surprising tennis stories of the year.

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