Mary Pierce vaulted into the upper echelon of tennis at last Friday when she overcame early jitters and her fiery temper to upset Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-3, 6-2 and capture the Australian Open.
Amid the constant rumble of thunder, Pierce's powerful and deep baseline shots overwhelmed the No. 2 Sanchez Vicario and denied her a chance to take over the top ranking she has long craved.In winning her first Grand Slam title, and doing it without dropping a set the whole tournament, Pierce also moved up to a career-high No. 3 ranking. Pierce became the first French woman to capture a Grand Slam singles title since Francoise Durr took the French Open in 1967. No French woman ever had won the Australian Open.
The victory over Sanchez Vicario couldn't have been sweeter for Pierce, who was beaten by her in straight sets in the French Open final last year. Pierce's win also gave her a $360,000 winner's check.
Pierce, 20, had shown for years she had the talent in her blazing groundstokes to be among the best in tennis, but her fragile temperament always seem to get in the way.
She cursed herself, screamed, bopped her forehead with her racket, slapped her thighs, and went through a variety of other histrionics in this match as well, but she was able to control herself enough to keep the pressure on Sanchez Vicario all the way.
Sanchez Vicario was on her heels at the baseline most of the match, unable to counter Pierce's strong groundstrokes or outlast her in rallies when they sometimes exchanged more than 30 shots. Usually the steadier player, Sanchez Vicario whacked 30 unforced errors to Pierce's 21 and had seven fewer winners.
But more than anything, it was Sanchez Vicario's serve that failed her. She held serve only twice and lost the first point of every service game.
"This is my second final (here). Hopefully the third will be the lucky one," said Sanchez Vicario, who won her second French Open and first U.S. Open last year.
Sanchez Vicario, 23, could take some solace in knowing that her quest for No. 1 will be fulfilled in another week. She would have preferred to get it with a Grand Slam title, but she'll have it handed to her as a result of Steffi Graf's withdrawal Saturday from next week's WTA Tour event in Tokyo. Sanchez Vicario is not playing in Tokyo, but the points Graf will lose are enough to put the Spaniard ahead.
Pierce's leap to No. 3 dropped Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez to No. 4.
"I think I'll never forget this in my whole life," Pierce said. "I think all the hard work has paid off, and it's a great way to start my year."
The final started off sloppily with service breaks in the first four games. Pierce double-faulted twice and looked tense. But in the fourth game, the longest and best of the match, Pierce recovered her composure to break Sanchez Vicario en route to the win.