Arantxa Sánchez Vicario & Mary Pierce - WIMBLEDON 1997 --- 1/8

[@hurzafar1]

Never seen arantxa serving so strong ... Too good ... Also never seen pierce so pissed off after a match

[@CJJAK37]

The weird thing about her 97 season . Played fairly well on grass reaching the semis here and the final of Eastbourne . Came very close to beating Hingis on indoor carpet in Philadelphia, up 61 53 but lost . And beat Seles in the masters . But played poorly on hard and clay throughout the year . Her usual bread and butter surfaces. She also beat Davenport in filderstadt. Again on carpet .

[@quiddy]

She beat Hingis in Madison in November

[@FlabbyTitmuss]

Very good point. It's like she'd gotten fed up of all the hustling on slower surfaces and wanted to start winning points more quickly. Martinez also declined in 97.

[@SG49478]

I think it is no coincidence, that Martinez and Sanchez declined at the same time. Both acted with a lot of top spin, which is at least one weapon against their opponents. And in 1997 (actually even before) the number of players on the top increased, who simply took their topspin shots very early in the rise and neutralized them. That's one of the reasons that Martinez and Sanchez both had a pretty poor record against players like Hingis, Pierce, Davenport, early in the 90's also already Seles. Also in 1997 other players who took the ball very early got their games together or started to rise as teenagers, like van Roost or Testud and Kournikova. It doesn't tell the whole story but at least in part it is an explanation. In the case of Arantxa almost half of her losses came from one of these players listed.

[@CJJAK37]

@@SG49478 yeah that’s a good point . Also they were playing for a decade at that stage and motivation dropped a bit . Davenport struggled with both of them but yes tennis changed and they were Top spin wizards and it wasn’t as effective after 97/98. The ball bashers arrived with little to no variety and even Hingis was made redundant after 2000. Remember Arantxa was only a little woman and did not have the power of those big ladies . Credit to her to staying in the top 10 as late as May 2001.

[@hurzafar1]

Though I am the biggest arantxa fan here ... But just look at pierce ... What style what class ...

[@thispicture84]

If i remember rightly a lot of people expected Mary to win this as her power game should be suited to grass? But she turned up looking like she didn't want to be there. She was so much to fun watch because you never knew what you were going to get. Sometimes you got the posey, drama queen like in this video. Love her

[@ophelia5100]

I watched this match live. At first i thought Mary was a safe bet having won against Aranxa like 3 times in a row. She also had a pretty decent year thus far. But man i have never seen Aranxa serve so well and Mary, despite a few breathtaking winners here and there, turned into an unforced error machine and looked so pissed most of the time.. she looks gorgeous though

[@FlabbyTitmuss]

I think Mary was so pissed because she probably felt she was the favourite here, having had a much better year up to this point. But she was never an elite player on grass so I think that was overconfident.

[@Danimal1177]

Mary wearing shorts was probably the result of the criticism she had received during the spring of '97 for wearing very short, sexy skirts that blew easily in the wind.

[@sebbyknight]

7:08 whatever Jane whispered to Sue, I bet she’s right.

[@davidJones-zx9jz]

Gracias por todos los vídeos. Soy muy fan de Arantxa. Tendrías el partido contra Jana Novotna en los Juegos Olímpicos del '96? Creo que ahí fue el principio del fin de su amistad. Gracias.

[@arantxasanchezvicarioparti2944]

Sí, pronto en el canal.

[@DavidMarMar31]

Ese partido fue magnífico

[@cr3413]

Have you found footage of Kournikova vs. Chanda Rubin from Wimbledon 1997 First Round? Might be attached to another match since only the last few min are out there.

[@cr3413]

I'd be happy to pay you if you find it!

[@peterzhou9267]

ASV was so sharp here playing real grass tennis - did she actually train just for grass titles this year? Because she was really off for clay.

[@jujumusique1305]

Not really. 1997 was an off year for her. She had reached two back to back Wimbledon finals in 1995 and 1996 playing excellent grass court tennis.

[@cupidslover3]

Mary's game was never suited to grass that much although she improved towards the end of her career. The swing on her forehand is generally too big for grass and she was not naturally athletic. Perfect attacking game for clay or hard courts but grass is a different ball game

[@peterzhou9267]

I think it has something to do with her footwork. She speed was decent, but her footwork was bad (like, very bad!), so once she got to the defensive side for her backhand she couldn't do much. Of course Arantxa's forehand was on fire here.

[@katarinadicamella]

Post her match against Novotna in 97 please!!

[@8sabu1982]

Quiero 😍verlooooo ( lo ví en diferido) en canal Plus y ví como Arantxa batía a Pierce pero con las " Rayitas " En Blanco y Negro ⚫.

[@andyElec]

I have a feeling Mary Pierce never won a singles match on Wimbledon Centre Court... can anyone confirm or contradict this for me? 👍😁

[@tortellinibaked]

I think you are right. In 1996 she lost to Date, 1997 here, 2000 to Serna and 2005 (her last Wimby match) to Venus Williams.

[@timothy77joe]

Also 1995 vs. Tauziat.

[@andyElec]

Thank you both! I wonder if any other big time players have a similar record 🤷‍♂️😊

[@jabaros75]

Partidazo de Arantxa!!! Palizon le dio a Mary

[@nachobaeza9714]

Buen partido sí pero preferiría que hubiese perdido este partido contra M.Pierce que en el de la final de Australia 1995. Jamás entendí como pudo perder aquella final cuando prácticamente ella siempre dominó a la francesa excepto en algún partido que otro. Recuerdo que me pegué el madrugón para verlo y me arrepentí de aquel madrugón. No me creí el resultado.....

[@zeddeka]

​@@nachobaeza9714Mary played a very intelligent tactical match in that Australian Open final. She hit lots of high, heavy topspin shots to Arantxa's forehand. Arantxa always had a weakness dealing with high bouncing shots on her forehand, and the Rebound Ace surface made the topspin bounce even higher. Arantxa's Forehand disintegrated.

[@CJJAK37]

First win over Mary in 3 years . And killed her. Mary and grass lol . Not the best combination

[@tomschmitz5745]

would have thought pierce would have won and by the score that Arantxa won! what with first strike tennis on grass courts?...

[@patrickclohessy8339]

Pierce had an awful record playing on grass

[@pianoking8878]

산체스가 관록이 있는 선수구나 피에르스가 아무리 잔디에서 좋은 성적은 못냈어도 기본기가 있고 당해년도 호주오픈 준우승자인데 그걸 이기네. 준결승에서 노보트나에게 패하고 전성기에서 내려온 한 해를 보냈지만 그래도 실력이 있다.