U.S. OPEN

August 28, 1995

Mary Pierce

MARY PIERCE: Well, first of all, it is a different surface. Australia is a bit softer, and it is a little slower and its bounce is a little bit higher. But you know, I really like hard court. It is a lot -- it is a good surface. There is no bad bounces and stuff, so it is a surface that I feel very comfortable on.

MARY PIERCE: I don't know. Like another players --

MARY PIERCE: For myself, my opinion is I am happy to see her back. I think first of all, like everybody says, "great for women's tennis." Of course it is great for women's tennis and I think it is great for the competition of the players themselves. Because I am looking forward to hopefully having a chance to play against Monica. You know, we played three times before her incident and I lost each time, but our last matches were a little bit close, so for me as a player, I would be very excited to play her again. So I think it is good. I am glad she is back which means that she is mentally and physically healthy, so I mean, that is just a very important thing.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, honestly, I was surprised to see her win her first tournament back, but I wouldn't be surprised if she won here because I think of what she has done, you could say "Monica is back." Not playing a tournament for over two years and winning the first one is impressive. That just shows you how much of a champion she was, is, and will be because, you know, I think she has one of the strongest mentalities I have ever seen probably for a tennis player.

MARY PIERCE: Not too pleased, actually, the first set. It was, you know, really difficult, the wind, it was swirling around and Mariaan was playing well. She was hitting some very, very good first serves. I felt I wasn't serving that well today the whole match. Second set, I felt I started playing better from the baseline; played a little deeper and aggressive; that is why it was a little easier the second set.