VIRGINIA SLIMS CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 17, 1994

Mary Pierce

MARY PIERCE: No, it's nothing really, just my shoulder is a little tight.

MARY PIERCE: Very, very good. I was extremely excited. I was so happy after winning that match tonight, I just felt -- I felt so great, I felt that I was moving really good and I felt like all my shots were working well.

MARY PIERCE: I don't know, in Paris I think I played really, really good, but today, I was focused and very determined and I really wanted to win the match tonight. I told myself I'm going to try to do the best I can and play the best I can to win tonight and, you know, not to get upset if she hit a good shot or anything.

MARY PIERCE: I think so -- well, you know, I can't really say that because playing in Paris, winning and beating Steffi there was unbelievable because I was playing in the French crowd, but I think this one was also great because, you know, I kind of did it two times instead of one, and it's always good to be able to do that.

MARY PIERCE: No, because, you know, to beat Steffi is a very difficult thing to do. You have to really be playing well and it's a tough thing to do. So every time I can beat her, is -- it would be a great match for me.

MARY PIERCE: I'm basically happy with everything I did, and because, you know, I really wanted to serve well it was important for me to get first serves in and start to attack her second serve which I think I did pretty good. You know, I'm just basically really happy with my whole game tonight.

MARY PIERCE: I love playing here. The crowd, they're really into it, really having fun; different than any other tournament and I really enjoy that. So maybe that's one of the reasons I play so well.

MARY PIERCE: I think I've changed quite a bit on the court and off the court, you know, I'm enjoying things a lot more in my life and I'm enjoying tennis a lot, having fun. I've worked really hard physically, so I'm in better shape. Also I think those things make a big difference.

MARY PIERCE: It was like night and day, actually. Yesterday I felt like a totally different person than today, today I felt like the real Mary, and the real Mary was out there tonight; an awful of energy and I was concentrated the whole time and yesterday I was -- I felt very slow, lethargic, wasn't concentrated, I felt tired, but, today I just felt really good.

MARY PIERCE: Sorry.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, I talked to Nick this morning and also my other coach, Sven and I played Steffi once before, so basically I knew what to do. Just play my game.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, you could say that throughout the whole match, actually. Being in the zone I would have to say is when you're really mentally focused, very determined that you don't really notice a lot of the things outside, that I just see the ball coming to me and I think that throughout the whole match I was doing that really well.