Slowly, Pierce makes way to French Open final
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-04 13:46

When Mary Pierce prepares to serve, she cleans the baseline with her foot, then uses her racket to knock the clay from the soles of her shoes.

She adjusts her ponytail, brushes the hair from her eyes, blows on her fingers and fixes a Zen-like gaze across the net, where her opponent is by this point struggling to stay awake.

Pierce's once-stupefying series of tics has become part of her charm now that she's back in the French Open final.

France's Mary Pierce reacts after defeating Russia's Elena Likhovtseva during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament, at the Roland Garros stadium, Thursday June 2, 2005 in Paris. Pierce won 6-1, 6-1. [AP]

But those planning to watch the Frenchwoman's match Saturday against Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne might want to set aside at least a couple of hours: Pierce plays very slowly.

"That's kind of just Mary," said top-ranked Lindsay Davenport, who lost to Pierce in the quarterfinals.

"I like to be calm and not be in a hurry — be relaxed," Pierce said. "That's the way I am."

Hey, it works. The top half of the women's draw at Roland Garros included Davenport, Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva, but Pierce outlasted them all to reach her first Grand Slam final since winning the French Open five years ago.

"It's a fantastic feeling," she said.

Henin-Hardenne uses the same adjective to describe the final. Playing in her first major event since returning from a seven-month layoff because of a knee injury and an energy-sapping blood virus, she's on the verge of winning her fourth Grand Slam title and her second at Roland Garros.

"It's the best gift I could get," said Henin-Hardenne, who turned 23 Wednesday. "When I was not feeling well, I was worried for my tennis career, obviously. But I felt bad about the rest of my life as well. I was too tired. I couldn't even go out with friends to eat in a restaurant.

"You have all sorts of doubts coming to your mind: Are you ever going to be normal again?"

She may be better than ever. Despite a sore back and lingering questions about her stamina, she's 26-1 since returning in March and has won 23 consecutive matches, all on clay. En route to the final she beat U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova on consecutive days.

"I'm getting a little bit tired," Henin-Hardenne said. "I will have to give my best one more time and then take a rest."

Pierce also overcame health woes to stage the latest comeback in her roller-coaster career.

Troubled as a teen by a tumultuous relationship with her father, who was banned by the WTA Tour for four years, she rose to third in the rankings at age 20 when she won the Australian Open in 1995. The next breakthrough came in 2000, when the Roland Garros title helped her finally win over French fans who had jeered her in the past and mocked her American accent.

Injuries then sent her sinking out of the top 200, and next week she'll return to the top 20 for the first time since June 2001. She has reconciled with her father and speaks warmly of her family support.

"She has had a lot of odds stacked against her, especially in the beginning," Davenport said. "She has come out to be a really great person.

"A lot of injuries, a lot of ups and downs — but you know, she's always dangerous. Whenever she's in a draw, you don't know if it's the Mary that's playing great or not. But she's always a tough player if she's playing well."

Pounding winners into the corners this week and moving with renewed vigor, Pierce has rediscovered her peak at 30. She's the oldest women's Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova was the Wimbledon runner-up in 1994 at 37.

The crowd will be behind Pierce, but fans in Paris are also fond of the French-speaking Henin-Hardenne. The Belgian's game has more variety, and she has swept all six sets in three matches against Pierce.

And this week, the quality of her shotmaking has steadily improved. In the last game of her semifinal victory over Nadia Petrova, Henin-Hardenne skipped winners off the baseline on consecutive points.

"Justine just has an incredible clay-court record," Davenport said. "I would think Mary would be a heavy underdog. Justine does an incredible job of getting balls back in and really mixing it up. The ball's not going to be right in Mary's strike zone, so she's going to have to play well."

Or she could try to stall.

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