CHASE CHAMPIONSHIPS OF THE WTA TOUR

November 15, 1999

Mary Pierce

Q. Marry, at 2-5 in the second set, you're about to lose the match, what did you do to turn the match around?

MARY PIERCE: Not a whole lot. I just really told myself to just try to just play every point point-by-point. Just think, concentrate point-by-point. I sat down and just tried to think what's going on. I wasn't moving well at all today. I was making a lot of mistakes. I was missing easy shots, I think. But it's difficult. Anna is a great player. She hits the ball really flat and deep, and heavy. It doesn't seem like it's coming that hard, but it is. She was playing well. I was making some mistakes, and, you know, she's a tough opponent. I just tried to get my game together. I just tried to play more consistent, just point by point. You know, that was it.

MARY PIERCE: No.

MARY PIERCE: Coming back, yes. I haven't come from behind in a while. Yeah, that's a good feeling. I'm happy about that. But I'm not really happy about the way I played. I need to work. I've got a couple days off so that I can work on some things. You know I am happy that I won and just looking forward to my next match.

MARY PIERCE: I mean, yeah, you can see her -- try to read the player. But I tried to focus on myself and my side of the court. Just keep doing what I'm doing, play point by point. I just said to myself, "Anything can happen. Just play every point the best you can," and that's it.

MARY PIERCE: My plan was to play more to her forehand. You know, her backhand is solid. Her forehand is more erratic, hits it harder and can make more mistakes on the forehand. I just tried to change it up a little bit and play her backhand and do something different.

MARY PIERCE: I didn't put any expectations; so I just, you know, it could have been easy; it could have been tough. Like I said, the only thing I did is just think about point by point and just playing it the best I could each point, and whatever happens, happens.

MARY PIERCE: It's very interesting. I think that, you know, it's been great to have somebody who also is a professional athlete and someone that understands and someone that you can talk to about things. Sports are very similar, no matter what sport you play. When you come down to it, it's basically all mental. You know, it's just been a lot of fun.

MARY PIERCE: Yes.

MARY PIERCE: I don't know. I can't answer that question because I'm not too sure if people younger will give up or not. I think it really just depends on the individual.

MARY PIERCE: I had a tough time coming back from when I was down before. I wasn't able to just take a step back and really try to think and analyze what was going on and I think that that's something that I've been working on and can still improve on. I've been working on that.

MARY PIERCE: What do you think I expect? I'm not the kind of person to put expectations on anything because I think if you put expectations, you're only setting yourself up for disappointments. I look at things with a different mentality. I look at it like this is a great opportunity. I'm very excited to play with Martina. She's a great player. I think that I can learn things playing doubles with her. She's won a lot of tournaments. I look forward to having a lot of fun with her. Of course, when you step on the court, everyone wants to win. It's just going to be a lot of fun. I look forward to it.

MARY PIERCE: I think it's great to see how many French girls are here and how well French tennis is doing. It's fantastic to see how many girls. That's going to bring a lot more interest into the younger girls and especially getting tennis more popular in France again and just to have a lot of kids playing the sport again.

MARY PIERCE: I'm not really the right person to ask. I am not in France. I don't live there. It's hard to say. I'm not there enough.