When Mary Pierce enters the Bengaluru International Airport terminal in May as the international event ambassador to the eleventh edition of the TCS World 10K, she will still hold the prestige of being the last French citizen - man or woman - to have won a Singles Title, at the prestigious clay-court Grand Slam - the French Open.
Pierce reached her career high ranking of World #3 in 1995, post her first Grand Slam Singles title - that of the Australian Open in January 1995. Mary has in a career that lasted from the early nineties to 2005 gained, four Grand Slam titles including one with India’s first Grand Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi in the Mixed Doubles event at Wimbledon 2005. A title she won with the Indian without dropping a single set through the whole tournament. However, as fate would have it, Mary’s Wimbledon title with Mahesh, would be the last Grand Slam title of her career, which ended in a calamitous knee injury.
Having spent a lifetime on the tennis court, retiring in 2006 – Mary has found peace with her life script with God and on the island of Mauritius, where she trains young tennis players. Mary, as the international event ambassador of the TCS World 10K, will use her story of struggle, hard work and a commitment towards excellence, to encourage the 25,000-odd people who will take to the streets for the eleventh edition of the TCS World 10K on 27th May 2018.
Talking to us over a phone call, excited to be in India, Mary Pierce shared, “I am excited to be the Ambassador for the upcoming TCS World 10k race in Bengaluru! I always enjoyed running, it was a part of my training. It not only builds you physically, but it also improves your health and strengthens your mind! I wish to all the participants good luck & have a great race!
Speaking on Mary Pierce’s maiden association with the run as the Event Ambassador, Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director of Procam International, said “Having Mary in our midst, is a great honour and we are grateful for her presence, joining us on the sidelines of the French Open, which is her most historical title. As an athlete, Mary’s personal story of grit and pure hard work is one that will inspire many of our runners, while her post professional tennis career life, will encourage people to look beyond the only finish line in sight. We look forward to welcoming Mary Pierce as the International Event Ambassador for this edition of the run and believe that her life script will provide very interesting learnings. Bien venue Mary!”
