By Scoop Malinowski
Status: Winner of 1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open. Winner of 18 WTA singles titles and 10 doubles titles.
DOB: Jan. 15, 1975 In: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Childhood Hero: “Chris Evert.”
Hobbies/Interests: “Reading, cooking, dancing, music, jet skiing, biking, backgammon, playing cards.”
Favorite Movies: “Funny movies, anything that makes me laugh.
Early Tennis Memory: “The first day I started. The pro at the club asked me how long I’ve been playing. And it was only like 45 minutes. And he said, ‘No, no, how long have you been playing?’ I said, ‘Yeah, just 45 minutes.’ He couldn’t believe it. It was kind of special because he put me right in with the kids who had already been playing.”
Greatest Sports Moment: “Winning the French Open (2000 vs. Conchita Martinez).”
Most Painful Moment: “Hmm. I don’t know about painful. Maybe disappointing. When I lost the finals of the French Open (64 64 to Sanchez-Vicario in 1994). I was really hoping to win that tournament.”
Favorite Meal: “Anything but liver and brussels sprouts [laughs]!”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Chocolate with peanut butter.”
Favorite Athletes To Watch: “Dennis Rodman – because he’s different, he’s fun, he’s entertaining. I like him because he shows his emotions. Mike Tyson. Jimmy Connors. John McEnroe. They were entertaining too. Tiger Woods. Patrick Rafter. Mark Philippousis.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “People who are honest, with a good sense of humor. Sincere people, down to earth and simple.”
(Note: I did this Biofile with Mary in 2001.)
French Open · IMG · Mary Pierce · Roland Garros
Harold · April 29, 2013 at 9:00 am
No whatever happened to Roberto Alomar questions?
Scoop Malinowski · April 29, 2013 at 9:59 am
Harold; Guess he ended up like Delaina Mulcahy, Morgan Fruhwirth, Wendy Stewart, Babs, Sergei Fedorov, Common, Andy Mill, Nancy Lieberman, Judy Nelson… on the boulevard of broken heart tennis lovers.
Andrew Miller · April 29, 2013 at 7:03 pm
I like Mary Pierce. When she was playing well very few could stop her. And at her best, nearly flawless game as well as a nifty backhand. Not Spadea but not bad.
Scoop Malinowski · April 29, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Andrew; One of my favorite Pierce moments was when she was playing Sanchez Vicario at Roland Garros and she was just in a zone, she was playing out of her mind, and you could plainly see her smiling after winners, like she couldn’t believe it herself how fantastic she was playing. She was really feeling the ultimate joy of tennis. Crowd was going nuts with her too. A very special unforgettable performance. It was awesome to see. Poor Sanchez Vicario, who was on the wrong end of this beatdown, was none to pleased about it either and she definitely expressed it non verbally. But tough luck. It was Mary’s day.
Andrew Miller · April 30, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Scoop, much as I admired Sanchez-Vic’s gutsy and inspired play, when Pierce was playing well who could cheer against her? A great example of talent plus work. Seems well adjusted post retirement.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Andrew I preferred Pierce too, yet respected ASV’s bulldog mentality. Doubt we will ever see again an undersized grinder like ASV get to the top of WTA. She had no weapons except her fighting spirit. She has to be one of the biggest overachievers in tennis history. Respect to ASV but it was fun that day seeing Pierce just blow her off the court. Though Pierce surely took her fair share of defeats to ASV also.
Andrew Miller · April 30, 2013 at 6:35 pm
Aranxta had a great career. Her style was clever – I think if Rios were ever to win a championship he would have had to win it Aranxta style – in a mischievous way – wrong footing, waiting to the last second, drop shots when necessary, plus sheer speed. Very sad to see her relationship with her parents, who apparently (she claims) squandered tens of millions of (euros, dollars, pounds – you name it), or at the very least considered it “family money” and invested in properties, giving Aranxta some bad ones and one brother the good ones (Javier). If true, very sad. Given what her mother wrote, which basically made no mention of money and just said it was unfair of Aranxta, it sounds like Aranxta is justified, if not very bitter (she had apparently not been in contact with her brother Emilio for years). Apparently Aranxta felt pretty unloved.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2013 at 8:55 pm
The Barcelona Bumble Bee, as Bud Collins called her. What a strange story with her family mishandling her fortune. A very weird story, hard to believe actually. Tennis Magazine should do an investigative feature about it, but it seems they only write about Fed Nadal Djok Serena and the modern marquee names. I like when they do offbeat stories, like the one about jail tennis was excellent.
Andrew Miller · May 2, 2013 at 7:07 am
I think you just signed up for it, Scoop (!). Hope you enjoy Spain. Lots of angles.
Marion Bartoli,Fans · May 9, 2013 at 4:45 pm
We Love you Mary ♥