PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 15, 2005

Mary Pierce

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

MARY PIERCE: I feel good. I feel -- physically I feel pretty fit. Mentally I feel really strong. I feel like I'm playing some pretty good tennis. You know, I think that I'm a better player. You know, when I won in the tournament, in the French Open in 2000, that was almost five years ago. The tour was a little bit different then. You know, different surface and I was younger. But I just still felt like I was starting to scratch the surface of my potential. And I feel that once I reached my full potential hopefully one day, I'll be even better.

MARY PIERCE: I kind of thought about retiring around 30 when I was 20 years old. You think that's a good age. But I feel far from that. And maybe the injuries I had that kept me out for a little bit has kind of rejuvenated me, gave me quite a bit of time off that I didn't expect, and a different insight into the game, a greater appreciation for everything day in and day out, just a lot more love for what I do than before. You know, I feel far from retiring. You know, every morning when I wake up, after playing, I feel good. I can still compete against the top players. You know, that's what's motivating for me and that's why I continue. If I wasn't able to do that, then I wouldn't continue to play. I know that I still can and I know I'm going to continue improving. The secret? Well, I mean, there is no secret. It's hard work, discipline and dedication. You know, I'm willing to do everything that it takes, all the little things day in and day out, to be the best that I can, and that's what I look forward to.

MARY PIERCE: Well, "aches and pains," I think we all have something once in a while. If you don't have anything, it's kind of rare to some extent. Athletic peak at 30? I don't know. I mean, I think, you know, when you're younger, you know, 25, something around that, athletically I think you're a lot more resilient. But as a whole, you know, you can't beat experience. Experience goes a long way. Just, yeah, the experience. The mental, I think mentally I'm stronger than I was, than I have been, in my career. You know, it kind of -- there's other...

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, you know, I feel that I can cover the court okay. That's always been my weakness, you know. That's always something that I want to improve on and work on. My game is a power game, it's not a retrieving game. So, of course, it's important to be quick around the court and have that. When I'm in the right position, you know, I can hit the ball pretty well. I forgot what I was going to say.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, I mean definitely it feels good. It makes me happy. It proves that the hard work pays off, perseverance, dedication. You know, it doesn't surprise me because I know my abilities. It just confirms basically what I believe in myself. You know, like I said, that's why I play. I want to be in the top and I want to feel like I can compete with the girls in the top. If I feel that I can't and I'm not able to, then for me it's not any fun really because I've been in the top and I've had a lot of great, strong moments in tennis in my career. That's, you know, what I love. That's what I look forward to.

MARY PIERCE: Yeah, definitely. You know, I mean, I saw some of her match today. You know, anybody could have won, I think. I've played Maria once and I've beaten her, and that was at the US Open. It was three sets. You know, time has passed since then. This is a different tournament. It's still outdoors, it's hard courts. In tennis, who knows what can happen. She could play great. I could play great. She could play bad. I could play bad. It could be quick. It could be long. You never know. I just hope to go out there and hope to play my best. I'm going to give everything I have, no matter what, and see what happens.

MARY PIERCE: No, I think it's great. I'm real happy for Lindsay. I like her as a lady also off the court. I know she was contemplating to continue to play or not, and now she's back in the top again, a place that she enjoys being. So, you know, I'm happy for her. Like I said, experience goes a long way. Yeah, she's playing really solid tennis. Seems like she just breezes through her matches, just has a way that she plays. It just looks really easy.

MARY PIERCE: Not really. Just maybe once in a while a few remarks or something like that. But don't really talk too much about that.

MARY PIERCE: I'm starting to laugh because they're in their 30s. They're so young. Life, we're so young. But in tennis, it's like, "Oh, you're getting old," because you start when you're 14 or 15. You have long careers. It's physical, it takes a lot out of you. It's not like a job till you're 65. But, no, Andre, I'm a big Andre Agassi fan. I love Andre as a human and as a tennis player. I mean, I believe we have a few similarities. Just, you know, my dad had me watch a lot of players, men and women. Andre was one of them. You know, he's got a great game, baseline game, just great energy out there on the court. I think he looks fantastic. I think he's as fit as he's ever been. It just goes to show, I also have realized the older you get, the harder things become and the more you have to do. It's kind of like, how does that work? You just have to take better care of yourself and do more in recovery and more in prevention. It's just different. I think Andre's doing a fantastic job, to be competing and doing what he's doing is fantastic. We have a cyclist in France, Jeannie Longo, I think she's in her late 40s, and she's still amazing in cycling, so...

MARY PIERCE: Well, I pray that God will increase my wisdom every day, so maybe it's working. Yeah, the expression "I've been through a lot." To only be 30, I feel like I've already lived three lives. I just really try to learn a lot every day, try to grow as a person, you know, as much as I can really. Maybe that's why.