Pierce Stuns Dokic with Improbable Comeback
by Joe Checkler
Thursday, August 28, 2003
In one of the more dramatic second-round matches in recent
memory, Mary Pierce rallied from down 5-1 in the third set to
force a tiebreak and eventually defeat No. 22 seed Jelena
Dokic, advancing to the third round of the 2003 US Open,
6-2, 6-7, 7-6.
After scrambling back to grab a 6-5 lead in the third, Pierce
took Dokic's serve to deuce four times before the Yugoslavian
served a 91 mph ace to finally force the match's second tiebreak.
A blistering forehand winner at 5-5 in the tiebreak allowed
Pierce to serve for the only match point opportunity she would
need. When Dokic hit one wide, the Frenchwoman had her
improbable victory. After the ball bounded out of harm's way,
Pierce turned to a friend in the front row's far corner and
pumped her fist in elation, while the rest of the Arthur Ashe
Stadium crowd stood and clapped in unison.
Dokic, the 20-year old Yugoslavian, began the match with little
advantage during service games, as Pierce acted like a ball
machine spitting out line drive after perfectly placed line drive.
She did manage to break Pierce's serve twice in the second, to
eventually force a tiebreak in which she went up 6-3 and
eventually won at 7-5 to square the match.
A veteran and former world's No. 3 player, Pierce took control
of the match at the onset, overpowering Dokic with serves
approaching 110 mph and groundstrokes approaching the
baseline at near racket-breaking rapidity.
The seeded player may have been Dokic, but Pierce looked
like she would cruise to a straight-set win when she broke her
opponent to go up 5-4 and earned a chance to serve for the
match. As her forehand winner blazed by Dokic, Pierce
screamed "C'mon" before sitting down for the changeover. When
Dokic instantly broke back to make it 5-5 in the second, she
also yelled "C'mon."
It was the first-ever meeting between the two, and their
contrasting styles made for a fan's dream on the main court's
initial match. Ironically though, the harder-serving Pierce
double faulted just three times while the less-powerful Dokic
finished with 12. Pierce outaced her by 12-7.
A two-time quarterfinalist at the US Open with two Grand
Slam titles to her credit (the 2000 French Open and 1995
Australian Open), Pierce's third-round opponent will be the
winner of the Tathiana Garbin and Shinobu Asagoe match.
This is Pierce's 11th US Open as a singles player. 2002
marked the only year where she didn't advance to at least
the third round (She bowed out in the first to Paola Suarez
of Argentina).
-Pierce's career WTA earnings of $6,631,182 are more than
double those of Dokic's.
-Pierce has won 15 career singles titles.
-Dokic's best finishes in the US Open came in 2000 and
2001, when she lost in the fourth round.
-Besides Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport, Dokic
was the only woman to win two Tier I WTA titles during the
2001 season.
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│ 我向來很害羞，我以前是個安靜的孩子，我直到去年才開口說話。 │
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