Mary Pierce Is Coaching Juniors In Africa

Written by: Resendiz on 26th October 2012

Mary Pierce Is Coaching Juniors In Africa

French Mary Pierce returns a shot from Spain's Arantxa Sanchez 01 July during their centre court match at the Wimbledon Championships. Pierce was knocked out of the tournament by Sanchez. |

Few would have thought that former French and Australian Open champion Mary Piece would begin coaching juniors just three two years after she retired, but after Pierce moved to the small African island of Mauritius in 2009, she met and befriended the de Beer family and now coaches Emmanuel de Beer, 16, and Amaury de Beer, 13, two of the small African island’s better players.

Piece told Daily Tennis at the WTA Championships in Istanbul that it’s been a challenge but she’s been enjoying it.

“Its completely different, said the 37 year old, whose career was ended by a severe knee injury in 2006 at a tournament in Linz, just after one of her best years in 2005 when she won a couple of tournaments, and reached the US Open and WTA Championships finals. “It would be much easier coaching a pro. With kids it’s tough because you have to deal with their attitudes and behaviour, you have to learn to deal with a girl and a boy of different ages and what they are going through off court. And then there’s the tennis. It’s really cool and I’m learning a lot.”

Pierce is going at it full bore, going to London to take a USPTR coaching class and consulting with other tennis teachers such as Mats Wilander.

“It’s just like when I was playing tennis, I always wanted to the best and now I want them to be the best they can be, and I wants to be the best coach I can be.”

Emmanuel has begun to play ITF junior tournament as well as some 10,000 pro circuit events. Amaury won an international junior tournament in France.

The two are the children Philippe and Frederique de Beer, who own Park Lane Properties in Mauritius, which is off the southeast coast of Africa in the southwest Indian Ocean about 540 miles east of Madagascar.

Pierce has been traveling with the juniors to tournaments, and also brings the De Beers to Florida where her family still lives (she recently became an aunt for the second time as her brother and former coach David’s wife gave birth) to work out with then. She recently hired a hitting partner for the juniors as her bad knee still does not allow her to run side to side. After multiple surgeries and rehabilitation stints, she all but gave up on it two years ago, but she’s planning to go to Croatia soon to go under the care of an Olympic doctor who says he can cure her.

But despite having a bum knee, she is willing to hit the dusty road of the junior and pro circuit trails.”People are pretty surprised to see me at little tournaments in Botswana and Holland,” said the former world No. 3, who won nearly $10 million in prize money in her career. “It’s real funny to see the reactions of people when they see me.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: coaching in Africa, Emmanuel de Beer, Junior Tennis, Mary Pierce, Sports, Tennis News, Wta Championships