INTERVIEW
It's the kind of birthday we love and hate celebrating at the same time. 20 years ago, Mary Pierce lifted the Suzanne-Lenglen cup at Roland-Garros. To this day, it remains the last Frenchwoman to have achieved this feat, Porte d'Auteuil. "It is the dream, it was my dream to play there, and to win Roland-Garros. 20 years ago, it became reality and I am very, very proud of it", remembers, moved , the Franco-American, now based in Florida. And it is, according to her, thanks to a "supernatural phenomenon" that she won her second Grand Slam title ...
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The little voice that changes everything
Mary Pierce, who never hid her religious faith - "I am very believing and I believe in God who is in control of everything, I just have to give 100% of myself and give pleasure on the ground" , reveals that she had some sort of revelation at the time. "I felt something that I never felt, it was only once, the last time after my success in the first round," she explains on Europe 1. "I was on the Chatrier and after the meeting I heard a little voice which said to me: “Here, it may be this year.” Where does this voice come from, what is that? I have nothing said to no one, I kept it to myself and continued every day, every game, and indeed, it has been my year. "
A victory acquired against the Spaniard Conchita Martinez in two sets (6-2 / 7-5) which allows her to win her second Grand Slam tournament, and certainly the most important trophy of her career. "It's crazy to say that 20 years have passed. I have great memories of this fortnight, before the tournament, I was not sure I could play it because I was injured, I didn’t have great results, it wasn’t for confidence, "recalls Mary Pierce. "But three months ago, I met the lord and that's where, personally, my life changed completely, I was transformed. There are a lot of things that happened 20 years ago, maybe to be the best in my life. It was the best time of my career. "
Difficulty for a Frenchwoman to play and win at Roland-Garros
Unhappy finalist in 2005 against the Belgian Justine Henin, Mary Pierce has since seen no one reach this stage of the competition at Roland Garros. "Why am I the last? I don't know (laughs), I can't tell you, there was Marion Bartoli who was not far away. There is Kristina Mladenovic or Caroline Garcia. We are waiting, and there is no "There are no other players who show that they have the potential to win Roland", deplores the former world number 3 at the WTA. But she admits that to win on the Parisian ocher, you have to have strong nerves: "Playing Roland-Garros as French, it's hard. It's a Grand Slam, there is excitement in air, it has nothing to do with other tournaments. All attention is focused on you, the media, the public, the whole country awaits the French who play. "
A pressure, an expectation that often makes the tricolors outwit. "We want to do so well, that sometimes it's too much, it is difficult to manage all these emotions. This is what is the hardest to manage at Roland Garros", details Mary Pierce. "Afterwards, we think too much in the head, we become too tense, too tense, we breathe less well, we move less well, we hit less hard, we make more mistakes." Maybe 2020 will be a good year, especially since French players should have less pressure, the possibility of seeing the Paris tournament take place behind closed doors or with a reduced capacity next September, takes more and more thick day by day….