Hall of Fame Live with Mary Pierce
2019 Hall of Famer Mary Pierce is no stranger to overcoming challenges on the court and off. Today, the 2000 Roland-Garros champion is meeting the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic with the grace and strength she’s displayed over the years.
Mary signed onto Hall of Fame LIVE from home in Florida this week and fielded a range of questions from fans around the world and host Blair Henley.
They kicked things off with 20 questions to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mary's Roland-Garros victory, and we learned a lot of interesting things about the Class of 2019 Hall of Famer, including these three highlights.
1. Her Start in Tennis was Atypical,
and A-mazing
With most future tennis pros getting into the game as four or five year olds, Mary's start in tennis may have been late to the game, but she didn't let that hold her back. Never having played tennis before, a 10-year-old Mary accompanied a friend to her tennis lessons one day after school. With a racquet borrowed from the Pro Shop, Mary breezed her way through three levels of classes in one day, even nailing her serves! Check out the video below to hear how that fateful outing put Mary on track to turn pro four years later.
2. She Really Misses… Training?
You heard that right! In a segment that included 20 fast-fire questions for the Hall of Famer, it came out that the thing Mary misses most about her professional career is the high intensity training that accompanies being a professional athlete. Despite hating sweat when she first started tennis, she grew to love the training aspect of the sport, with strength training remaining a personal favorite of hers today.
The thing she doesn’t miss? All that travel!
3. Christianity Changed her Life, and Her Game
Mary became a born again Christian after a particularly tumultuous time in her life, and she credits her faith with reigniting her love for tennis. Her renewed focus on faith helped her relax in her game more, allowing her to enjoy playing and have fun with matches. She credits her on-court successes after March 2000, including that career-making Roland-Garros victory, to the shift in her religious outlook and remains devoted to her beliefs.
These three points were only a small part of a great chat with Mary. We unpacked her thoughts on fashion, family, and the future.
Scroll below to see the whole Hall of Fame Live chat and learn more about what she is up to now (hint- she’s still very involved with tennis), what she thinks she would be doing if she never picked up a racquet (paging Dr. Pierce), and where she is spending her time during quarantine!
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Hall of Famer Marat Safin, Thursday, June 4 at 12pm EST on Instagram @tennishallofame.
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