Pierce Dispatches Schnyder to Advance

Who says women’s professional tennis is a young girl’s game?

Playing solidly from the baseline, 30-year-old Mary Pierce of France outplayed fifth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the Acura Classic semifinals.

The six-seeded Pierce joins another 30-year-old in the semifinals as unseeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan won her quarterfinal match earlier in the day.

Schnyder looked strong in the opening game of the match as she easily held serve at love, but after holding her serve, Pierce took a 2-1 lead when she broke Schnyder.

The Swiss player nearly broke back in the next game but wasted two break point opportunities as Pierce increased her lead to 3-1 after winning a ten point.

There were numerous rallies during the one-hour and ten-minute match as each player waited for a short ball to set up an opportunity to hit a winner.

The lone service break in the third game was all Pierce needed to wrap up the first set as she went on to serve it out.

After holding serve to begin the second set, Schnyder went up 2-0 as Pierce double faulted on break point.

Pierce broke back in the next game to get back on serve. Trailing at 2-3, Pierce took control of the match, losing only three points on serve during the rest of the match.

Schnyder’s game began to wilt as she dropped her serve twice in the final three games of the match. After fighting off three match points, Schnyder netted a backhand to end the match.

• Pierce will face the winner of the Clijsters / Peng match in the semifinals.
• Pierce is ranked 14th in the world.
• Pierce is playing in her ninth Acura Classic. She reached the finals here in 1998.
• Pierce now leads Schnyder 6-2 in career head-to-head meetings.
• Pierce improves her 2005 match record to 26-10.
• Schnyder is ranked 11th in the world.
• Schnyder was making her third Acura Classic appearance.
• Schnyder’s 2005 match record is now 42-15.
  

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