Mary Pierce: My belief in God helped me during my French Open run in 2000

Former World No. 3 Mary Pierce won the French Open singles title in 2000 - the last time a French woman has won the women's singles title in Paris.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of her win in Paris, Pierce recalled her run to the title in an interview with Le Figaro.

Pierce says, "The highlight is the match point in the final against Conchita Martinez. All the positive emotions crossed me at the same time. I tried to think that it was a point like the others. It was wonderful to see all this work, all these tears, all these efforts, rewarded. When I won my first Grand Slam (in 1995), I was obviously very happy, but winning in France as French, in front of my audience, it was unique, something strong , powerful, magic. When I won my first round on Central (against Tara Snyder), it was as if I had heard a little voice inside me saying to me: "It may be this year ..." said nothing to anyone, I kept that for myself. And, finally, it was true, it was my year.

The Frenchwoman says her strong belief in her religion also helped her during her win. "The highlight of my life was when I met the Lord. I was raised in the Catholic religion, but in March 2000 my faith deepened, and this is where my life completely changed. My heart was healed from all my injuries from the past, and I was then able to forgive my father. God gave me the talent to play tennis, and I wanted to do my best for the Lord. So I came to Roland-Garros that year with another spirit, another mentality, and that took a lot of pressure and stress away from me."

Pierce also spoke about winning the singles and doubles, with Martina Hingis, in the same year. "Martina has become a friend. I was happy to play with her. We had a lot of fun. We trained together, also with her mom, who was very serious, who didn't laugh. I learned a lot from Martina, the way she works, she is a very intelligent player on the court, like a chess player. I relied more on my power and my attacking game. Our games complemented each other well."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3gpCkSb