She was World No. 3, won two Grand Slams but an horrific injury cut her career short: ‘Nobody could understand’

Former World No. 3 and two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce has one of most sad retirement stories in tennis as a terrible injury ended her career.Mary Pierce established herself as one of the top tennis players of the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, her path to success was far from easy, as she had to overcome challenges related to her abusive father. While she won two Grand Slam singles titles and two more in doubles and mixed doubles, a devastating knee injury ended her career in 2006Born in 1975 in Montreal, Canada, Pierce held French citizenship through her mother and chose to represent France. She made history as the youngest player at the time to debut on the professional tour at just 14 years and two months. In 1991, she claimed her first WTA title in Palermo and finished the season ranked No. 26 in the world.Pierce’s early career was overshadowed by her father’s violent behavior, which led the WTA to ban him from attending tournaments in 1993. She later sought a restraining order after he threatened her life. Despite their troubled past, they eventually reconciled.Early rise in tennis and her relationship with her fatherIn April 1989, at a WTA tournament in Hilton Head, 14-year-old Mary Pierce became the youngest American to debut on the professional tour, a record later broken by Jennifer Capriati in 1990. Known for her strength and aggressive style, her powerful ball-striking drew comparisons to Capriati, and she quickly earned a reputation as one of the hardest hitters on the women’s tour.When she was 18, her father, Jim Pearce, started coaching her. “During this time, I played tennis because I had no choice. I had to win because if I didn’t, my dad would get abusive and I was afraid of what would happen. Fear was the driving emotion,” she wrote on her Instagram in 2020 for Behind The Racket.Thanks to her first title, she broke into the Top 10. However, she became estranged from her father. “From 18 to 25, I saw my dad once, when I won the Australian Open at age 20. Other than that, I didn’t see him. I hated him, was afraid of him, and never wanted to see him again,” she wroteHowever, as she became “a born-again Christian”, Pierce said she forgave him and she spent his last days with him, as he battled with cancer. “When he passed away, I was by his side. I am very grateful for the special times we shared,” she wrote.Grand Slam glory and dominanceAfter winning four titles over the next two years and reaching the 1993 Australian Open quarterfinals, Mary Pierce made her first Grand Slam final at the 1994 French Open. She delivered a dominant performance in the semifinals, defeating Steffi Graf 6-2, 6-2, but fell short in the final against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, losing 6-4, 6-4.A few months later, Pierce claimed her first Grand Slam title at the 1995 Australian Open, becoming the first Frenchwoman in 28 years to win a major. She avenged her loss to Sánchez Vicario in the final, winning 6-3, 6-2. Injuries hampered her in 1996, but she returned to the Australian Open final in 1997, where she was defeated by 16-year-old Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-2.That same year, Pierce played a key role in France’s Fed Cup victory and finished runner-up at the WTA Tour Championships, losing to Jana Novotná. She remained a top competitor in the following years, reaching the peak of her career in June 2000 when she won the French Open, defeating Conchita Martínez 6-2, 7-5 in the final.After battling injuries between 2001 and 2003, Pierce made a strong comeback in 2005. She climbed to world No. 5 by the end of the year after finishing runner-up at the French Open (losing to Justine Henin), the US Open (defeated by Kim Clijsters), and the WTA Tour Championships.The knee injury that ended her careerIn 2006, a foot injury kept Mary Pierce sidelined from February to August. By October, she was ranked No. 29 in the world. On October 26, while playing Vera Zvonareva in the second round of the WTA Linz Open, she suffered a devastating knee injury that ended her career. The two-time Grand Slam champion tore several ligaments and was never able to return to professional tennis.Pierce had won the first set 6-4 and even held three match points in the second, but Zvonareva saved them. At 5-6, as Pierce ran to hit a forehand, her knee gave out, and she collapsed in pain. She lay on the court clutching her leg as Zvonareva rushed over with ice before the medical team arrived. Tests later confirmed she had torn her anterior cruciate ligament.I had my surgery and when I woke up my surgeon told me that things went really well and that I’ll be back on the court in four or six months,” she told Tennis Channel in 2019. “He has done many, many athletes and great champions and they all have come back. So, I was like ‘great, I’ll come back soon.’ Six months later, I still couldn’t do a leg extension. It was really a mystery for everybody, nobody could really understand.”She continued, “After two years of doing rehab and trying to come back, I still had pain, I still wasn’t able to do things […] So, I figure, ‘you know what? Everything happens in life for a reason, and it is for the best. There were also other things that I had in my life that were actually more important than tennis, and I always wanted to do,” she said.Right now, she is pain-free. Pierce was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2019. After becoming a Grand Slam champion and defeating great players like Serena Williams and Steffi Graf—who praised her powerful shots—she earned her place in tennis history, even though it came at the cost of blood, sweat, and tears.

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