WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2000

Mary Pierce

MODERATOR: Mary Pierce.

MARY PIERCE: You know, I think a lot of it is mostly in your mind. I think you try to forget really what surface you're on, play normally like if you're on any surface really. Of course, you have to be ready for anything on grass. There's some bad bounces sometimes. It's just very different than playing on any other surface. I don't play many weeks out of the year - only three a year on grass. It's not much to be able to get used to it. But every year I play on it, I feel more and more comfortable. I enjoy it more and more.

MARY PIERCE: It's given me confidence, of course, in myself - on the court and off the court. It's also just taught me that when you do all the right things, you know, the hard work pays off. No matter what, winning or losing, that's great, but just knowing you're doing the right things to help me improve every day pays off. Also it motivated me even more to work even harder, because I remember some moments during the French Open when I was having some tough matches - maybe feeling tired, when I was cramping - I was thinking back in moments when I was home training, working really hard. Those moments made me stronger, I guess, on the court. So it's made me motivated to work even harder to try and be even better.

MARY PIERCE: Yes, definitely.

MARY PIERCE: I let -- it's something you can never prepare yourself, no matter who you can talk to, give you advice on what it's like to win a Grand Slam. It totally changes your life. When I won the Australian Open, I guess that I got overwhelmed with a lot of demands. You know, you kind of think, "Okay, I made it, I did it." You tend to not maybe work as hard. Then everything started to seem more like a job instead of playing tennis and having fun. I learned from that lesson, and that was five years ago. A lot also has happened between that time. For me, it's a completely different experience. It's fantastic. It was a dream come true for me. But that's the past. Those feelings that I had are over. It will always be in my memory, always be in the history of tennis. But, you know, I have to move on and stay in the moment.

MARY PIERCE: No, I don't control anything. I don't have control. Like I said, I think at the Australian Open, I think I probably did too many things and did not focus enough on myself, giving myself free time and training and really doing what I'm doing, which is being a tennis player. You kind of just have to forget. I mean, I won the French Open two weeks ago. It's great. But I'm at Wimbledon here. It's another tournament, there are other matches.

MARY PIERCE: I don't know. I don't play against myself. You'd have to ask them.

MARY PIERCE: Just all the little things that add up. You know, just eating right, recuperating right, stretching, getting treatment. It's just monotonous things that you have to do every day, day in and day out. They make a difference.

MARY PIERCE: Like I said, eating, resting, sleeping. What else is there that you can do? I don't know. I was in Paris for two weeks. I didn't go shopping one time. I didn't go to a museum. I went out to dinner one time in the first week when I first got there. You know, that was it. I had a lot of friends and family. There might have been times when I wanted to walk around, go shopping, but I didn't because I knew I needed to rest and I was there for a purpose. I have plenty of time to do other things like that in the future.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, I think so. I think it helps. I mean, if you're at a place that you don't really want to be and you don't enjoy it, it makes it more difficult, you know, to I guess bee motivated, want to do well. I think my comments kind of got blown out of proportion a couple weeks ago. It made me seem like I really don't like this place and I don't want to play here, things like that. I was just saying that it's difficult, that I respect their rules, that it's tradition and I respect that. They have that right. That's what makes Wimbledon Wimbledon. That's why it's special. That's why it's the most prestigious tournament of the year in tennis. I'm really impressed with the new building here. It's beautiful. I think they did a great job. Our locker rooms are great. We have a nice place to sit outside. We have a great gym. It's a nice facility. It's made it enjoyable.

MARY PIERCE: I don't know. I don't know. They just have a whole bunch of rules. Nothing in particular.

MARY PIERCE: Well, I played the finals, the doubles on Sunday, then I left Monday.

MARY PIERCE: You know, I don't know. I felt really good today on the court. I think in the past, like I said, it's kind of more of a mental thing. I thought, "Okay, I'm playing on grass now. I've got to serve-and-volley. I've got to try to come in, hit dropshots, do different things." I realised today really that grass suits my game well. It actually makes it easier for my game if I do the right things and play smart. Yeah, I just have to play my game. I don't have to change my game. I think that's why it was difficult for me before, because I thought I had to do something different, try to come into the net all the time. I just feel like if I just play my game, I can do well.

MARY PIERCE: I think that's been proven in the past. Years ago when I did well in '94, I beat Graf twice, she was No. 1. Over the years I've been able to practically beat everyone on a given day. It was a consistency really missing from my game. I think I'm improving on that. I still need to continue to improve, but it's getting better.

MARY PIERCE: It would be incredible (laughter). It would really just be amazing. I don't know. It would be great for sure. I'm going to try my best, but definitely not look far into the future; just take it match by match. Every match is difficult here on grass.

MARY PIERCE: I know for many years I didn't want to come and play here. Just playing on grass wasn't fun to me, it didn't appeal to me. It was just very, very difficult, getting used to running on it, how it bounced. It was just real hard for me. I feel, like I said, better and better every year I play on it. More comfortable, I'm enjoying it. I had fun today on the court.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, I think it's amazing. To win a Grand Slam tournament, it takes so much out of you physically and emotionally. To only have two weeks to recuperate your body and your mind, and to adapt to a different surface and win that again two weeks, it's incredible.