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Article: Pierce Bewilders Graf, Advances to French Open Final
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 3, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Mary Pierce, a transatlantic teenager with a blond ponytail, a
French mother and an American father, stunned the sports world today
with a dazzling display of searing groundstrokes that devastated
world No. 1 Steffi Graf and shattered her monopoly of women's
tennis.
Pierce's startling upset of the German star in a 6-2, 6-2
victory in the semifinals of the French Open deprived Graf of a
chance to win her fifth straight Grand Slam title.
It also was a ringing response to critics bemoaning the plight
of women's professional tennis by declaring a new challenger has
arrived to threaten Graf's domination of the sport.
Pierce, the No. 12 seed, is the first French woman since
Francoise Durr ...