Hingis gets the dust... but keeps her lovely face :)
A three sets match was enough to bring problems to both Hingis and Pierce. Here, Hingis hurting...
Martina didn't cry this year; instead she had a kind of warrior look.
Show your teeth! Healthy, they look.
Concentration was high but it was just Mary Pierce's day!
Hingis vs Pierce @ Roland Garros 2000
Martina Hingis lost the Roland Garros semi-final to Mary Pierce.
It was a superb match, with a poor first set - won by the French - followed by a great come back from the Swiss, who forced the local girl to a last sequence of games, where the wind and the audience had some influence, on some points.
Female tennis is a much better tv show, than male tennis: players are prettier :), and brute force is not as important. In fact, the main reason I prefer female tennis, is because of elegance and the diversity on styles.
Download the last point of the match from the Videos section. It is a very high quality real media file (580 kbps). Don't try to watch it online - you surely don't have enough bandwidth to stream it realtime, across the network. Follow the instructions on the Videos page.
Martina Hingis was (is) the youngest player to rank #1, by the WTA [Women's Tennis Association] - it happened when she was just 16 years and 5 months old, after her win on the 1997's Australian open.
Hingis is still a teenager, but that will end on 30 September 2000, when the Swiss finally turns 20, with just a bit of cellulite, but gorgeous as ever :).
Martina was born in Slovakia (south of Poland, north of Hungary, west of Ukraine, East of Austria and Czech Republic)... but she soon moved to Switzerland, with her mother, former national tennis champion. This month, she will be trying to win the Roland Garros tournament, which she never won, after last year's terrible performance against Steffi Graf... She surely is afraid of french audiences, due to 1999's massive lack of support.
Pierce is just 5 years older than Hingis. A bit like the Swiss, she was not born on her today's official country (France), as she comes from Montreal / Canada.
As you've probably noticed, biographical notes on both Hingis' and Pierce's life, tend to omit the father figure... While very little is known about Martina's father, it is public that Mary requested legal action against her male parent, in order to keep him away from her life...
And it is precisely since the days of "living without a father", that Pierce's tennis has grown stronger than many previewed. Se is known for her two-hands strokes, and her need to hit strong and play fast.
Pierce had a great day! After a poor second set, she refueled her energies and stroke even stronger.
It must be hard to concentrate under Roland Garros windy conditions.
Oh look! It is a two-handed strike! No surprise, when coming from Pierce.
Always two hands. Martina is right-handed.
Still, I prefer Martina's style. Much more feminine (paused but varied).
The end. She'll be back, but not as teenager.