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By Bonnie DeSimone, Special to ESPN.com
PARIS -- Veteran Mary Pierce of France said Saturday she expects to be in playing shape by this fall, although she's not entirely enthused about coming back on indoor hard court, where she ripped up her left knee last October. Pierce, the 2000 French Open champion, spent six months in Vail, Colo., following surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"It's been slow," said Pierce, 32. "My injury was actually a very unusual situation and that made it a lot slower to heal. When I hurt my knee, I did something to the bone as well. There's really nothing you can do for that. It just takes time for it to heal."
The former world No. 3 said simple things like taking a shower exhausted her early in her rehab process, but she never considered retiring. "I just remember saying to myself, 'Oh my gosh, this is going to be a lot of work,'" she said. Although she's not pain-free yet, she has done some hitting and thinks her strokes are fine.
Playing in next year's Beijing Olympics remains one of Pierce's chief goals. "I don't know why, but I feel I still have something to do on the court," she said.
A two-time Grand Slam winner (she also won the 1995 Australian Open), Pierce has been attending the French Open daily and had a street on the Roland Garros grounds named after her.
PARIS -- Veteran Mary Pierce of France said Saturday she expects to be in playing shape by this fall, although she's not entirely enthused about coming back on indoor hard court, where she ripped up her left knee last October. Pierce, the 2000 French Open champion, spent six months in Vail, Colo., following surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"It's been slow," said Pierce, 32. "My injury was actually a very unusual situation and that made it a lot slower to heal. When I hurt my knee, I did something to the bone as well. There's really nothing you can do for that. It just takes time for it to heal."
The former world No. 3 said simple things like taking a shower exhausted her early in her rehab process, but she never considered retiring. "I just remember saying to myself, 'Oh my gosh, this is going to be a lot of work,'" she said. Although she's not pain-free yet, she has done some hitting and thinks her strokes are fine.
Playing in next year's Beijing Olympics remains one of Pierce's chief goals. "I don't know why, but I feel I still have something to do on the court," she said.
A two-time Grand Slam winner (she also won the 1995 Australian Open), Pierce has been attending the French Open daily and had a street on the Roland Garros grounds named after her.
