Mary Pierce and Yutaka Nakamura

Mary Pierce has always bristled at any mention of the “R” word.

Despite nearly three full years away from the WTA Tour due to ACL surgery (and rare surgical reaction-caused setbacks), Pierce still wouldn’t dare utter anything even resembling the word “retirement.”

“Playing professionally is something I still want to do and something that I think I still can do,” Pierce said. “I just love competing at the highest level.”

At 34 years old, Pierce still holds out hope of making a comeback, with grueling on- and off-court workouts a daily routine. Monitored by IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy’s Director of Tennis Performance, Yutaka Nakamura, Pierce still struggles agilitiy-wise at times with her surgically repaired left knee. Her tennis stroke, though, is still as pure as ever.

“I feel like I’m hitting it as well as I ever have,” she said.

Yutaka has seen the progress first hand. With years of training stars like Tommy Haas, Maria Sharapova and Nicole Vaidisova, Yutaka still ranks Pierce near the top of natural athletes he has ever worked with.

Mary Pierce and Yutaka Nakamura

“She’s almost a perfect student,” he said. “She never skips a workout. To make this kind of comeback, it’s going to be about heart, but she has it.”

Pierce’s talent was undeniable from the start. She picked up a racket at 10 years old and won a junior national championship two years later. She’s won four Grand Slams (two singles, one doubles and one mixed doubles) and rose as high as No. 3 worldwide.

At October 2006 at a tournament in Austria, Pierce chased down a ball and planted her feet, when her left knee buckled. She fell to the court, screaming in agony.

“The first thing I thought was that I don’t want to die” she said, able to laugh about it now. “I was in so much pain.”

Her body had a negative reaction to the surgery, which set her back even more. But her desire to get back to the WTA Tour never wavered.

Yutaka Nakamura and Mary Pierce

And now she wants to get back to the top level of tennis. Not for the prestige — she casually states that she doesn’t miss the tennis “lifestyle” and watches very little tennis on television. No, she wants to return for herself and her fans.

“I’ve had people come up to me and tell me that I’ve inspired them, which is hard for me to comprehend, but hopefully I’ve made some kind of difference,” she said. “To me, that’s the greatest accomplishment I could have done.”

Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) vs. Melanie Oudin (USA)

Hantuchova has been injured as of late, but just has a nice run to the fourth round of Indian Wells last week. She has always been one of my favorite students since she trained back at the Academy when she was a young girl. She has been to the third round in Miami for the last three years.

Oudin is a young American who had great success as a junior. She comes into the tournament ranked #176 in the world, and has a solid win over Jill Craybas earlier this year.

Match-Up:

This is the first career meeting between Oudin and Hantuchova. Oudin is a good mover, has a solid backhand and is a fighter. She will not give in to Hantuchova whatsoever, but she may not be able to overpower her either. When healthy, Hatuchova has some of the best groundstrokes on the WTA Tour. She is not afraid to come to the net, and she is a great doubles player. I feel her relentless pressure gives her the edge in this match.

Nick’s Pick - Hantuchova in 3 sets

Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) vs. Patricia Mayr (AUT)

Vaidisova had two solid wins last week at Indian Wells, defeating Michaella Krajicek and Alona Bondarenko. She has had good success here in the past, reaching the quarterfinals back in 2007.

Mayr qualified for Sony with a good win over Marta Domachowska on Tuesday. She is a 22-year old who comes into the tournament ranked #79 in the world. She did reach the second round of the Aussie Open this year and reached the semis in Bogota in February.

Match-Up:

This is the first career meeting between Vaidisova and Mayr. Vaidisova has been working hard on her game over the last couple of months and is in great shape. She is hitting her groundstrokes with confidence, the serve is clicking and she seems ready to go again. If she can move well and control the match from the outset then she will move on. If she let Mayr gain confidence then she could be in some trouble.

Nick’s Pick – Vaidisova in 3 sets

Ayumi Morita (JPN) vs. Michaella Krajicek (NED)

Morita qualified for the tournament with a straight-set victory over American Vania King. She comes to Miami ranked #81 in the world and with a 6-7 record on the year, but she is a good young player with a bright future.

Krajicek fought with injuries last year, but she is now healthy and playing well again. She is now training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy with her outstanding coach, Allistair McCaw. She has been ranked as high as #30 in the world and I believe she will get back into the top-30 soon.

Match-Up:

Morita is 1-0 against Krajicek, with that win coming earlier this year in Auckland. Krajicek hits the ball hard, is very aggressive and covers the court well. Her serve is not easy to challenge, and her second serve is tough too when she goes for it. The key to Krajicek’s game is to stay positive no matter what happens. Morita moves well laterally, but she won’t overpower anyone. Krajicek cannot become impatient when Morita retrieves some of her better shots. She must hit a few extra balls and stay upbeat all the time. 

Nick’s Pick – Krajicek in 2, could go 3 (but she will still pull it out!)

Shahar Peer (ISR) vs. Tami Hendler (BEL)

Peer had it rolling for a few years, with most of her success was based on her movement and a strong will to win. She comes into this tournament ranked #46 in the world and has a 5-5 record on the year. She could use a good tournament to get herself back on track.

Hendler grew up at the NBTA, and she is now playing for Belgium in Fed Cup events. She received a wild card into the main draw here, and has a great spirit on the court. Look out for her in the next couple of years.

Match-Up:

This is the first career meeting between Peer and Hendler. Like I said before, Peer is a fighter, but so is Hendler. There is no ball this young Belgian won’t try and get. She must go for winners constantly and try to control the court at all times. Peer must dominate the court and force Hendler to run for every ball. Also, Hendler is going to have to have a real big serving day. The longer this match goes on, the more I give the edge to Peer, but don’t forget that Hendler will not give up!

Nick’s Pick – Peer in 3 sets

Nicole Vaidisova

One of the biggest non-major tournaments began yesterday in California, as the BNP Parisbas Open (formally the Pacific Life Open) at Indian Wells started. Only the women played their first round matches yesterday, and for Nicole Vaidisova, it was a very good start. The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy alum defeated Michaella Krajicek (who also trains at the NBTA) 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round. Vaidisova has had some success here in the past, as she went to the quarterfinals back in 2007 before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. Her opponent in round two will be 24th-seeded Alona Bondarenko, whom she is 1-0 against.

This is an excellent sign for Vaidisova that she is perhaps back on the right path. She has struggled for a while now, but hopefully this win will be a sign of things to come. We all know she has the talent to beat the best, she just needs to play consistent tennis and she will find her way back up the rankings. Good luck to Nicole in the second round!

Two other NBTA players took the courts yesterday, but both came up empty-handed. Both Michelle Larcher de Brito and Sabine Lisicki had chances to win their matches, but neither could capitialize. Larcher de Brito lost to Urszula Radwanska 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and Lisicki was beat by Elena Vesnina 7-6(4), 7-5. Tough losses for both girls, but I am confident they can rebound and make some noise throughout the rest of 2009.

Nicole Vaidisova training at the Academy with her coach David Felgate looking on

Two NBTA alum are in action down under prepping for the first Grand Slam of the year. Nicole Vaidisova, seeded sixth, won her opening round match against Alla Kudryavtseva 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5 in Auckland and will face Elena Vesnina in the second round. Vaidisova is looking to have a bounce-back 2009 after what was a disappointing 2008. She trained hard at the Academy during the short off-season and seems to be ready to roll this year.

Also winning was Sabine Lisicki. The young German is playing in the Hopman Cup with Nicolas Kiefer and she won her match against Australian Casey Dellacqua 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. Her compatriot, Kiefer, wasn’t as successful as he fell to Lleyton Hewitt in three sets. They did team up to beat the combo of Dellacqua/Hewitt in the mixed doubles though, winning 6-3, 7-6 (10/5). The German team is scheduled to face the American team of Meghann Shaughnessy and James Blake tomorrow.

Nick Bollettieri with Michaella Krajicek and her coach Allistair McCaw at the Academy in December 2008

This morning at the Academy four WTA players were out training. They included Nicole Vaidisova, Sabine Lisicki, Michaella Krajicek, and Shuai Peng. All four girls are preparing for the beginning of the tennis season in Australia next month.

Krajicek is trying to work her way back into the top 50 where she belongs. She currently sits at #204 in the world, but was as high as #30 earlier this year. She only played 34 singles matches this year due to an injury that kept her out from early July until October. It is great to see healthy and playing good tennis again.

Here are some photos from this morning and for more, visit our Flickr page:

If you aren’t familiar with the Eddie Herr, it is one of the largest junior tournaments in the world. Last year over 1,260 players from 72 different countries came to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy to participate and we are expecting those numbers again this year. Past champions of the event include: Marin Cilic, Dominika Cibulkova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, Xavier Malisse, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Ivan Ljubicic, Anna Kournikova, and Marcelo Rios.

We will be updating the status of many of the Academy’s players this week during the Eddie Herr. Some of the players from the Academy to watch out for include: Emila Onila, Sachia Vickery, Victoria Duval, Bo Seal, Harry Fowler, Jordan Cox, Yuki Bhambri, Borut Puc, Christian Harrison, and many more.

While all that is going on, the Academy is also serving as the training ground for many of the best players in the world. Currently pro players such as Ivo Karlovic, Xavier Malisse, Max Mirnyi, Michaella Krajicek, Kei Nishikori, Filip Krajinovic, Sabine Lisicki, Nicole Vaidisova, Ricardas Berankis, Shuai Peng, Anastasia Pivovarova, are all here and there are more to come as the month goes on.

Here are some pictures of the players that are training here and for me, click here and go to page two!

It would be great to have Nicole back at full strength for the ’09 season. She has so much talent and can be a serious challenger for a Grand Slam title when healthy and focused. Let’s hope she is both for the next season.

Here are some pictures from the events: