Paris, June 10: Mary Pierce sent a patriotic Centre Court wild on Saturday when she ended a 33-year drought for the host nation and won the French Open women's singles crown by outclassing Spaniard Conchita Martinez 6-2, 7-5 in the final. The host nation had been waiting for a female champion here since Francoise Durr triumphed over Lesley Turner of Australia in the 1967 final. Sixth-seeded Pierce won her second Grand Slam singles title and her first since the 1995 Australian Open. Saturday's win in cool, overcast conditions gave Pierce her second title of the year after Hilton Head and the 15th singles success of her career. She picked up a winner's cheque for 4,028,000 francs ($600,000), while fifth-seeded Martinez takes home exactly half that sum for her efforts. Canadian-born Pierce, 25, had hoped to end the poor French run when she made the final six years ago after dropping a record low of just 10 games en route - but she lost to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in straight sets having earlier beaten Graf, top seed that year. This time she made no mistake. "I can't explain how I feel. It's just incredible. I'll never forget this," gasped Pierce, who raised both her arms to the air in triumph after sealing the title. She buried her head in her towel then rose, crossed herself - and saluted the crowd. "I'll never, ever forget this day. It's fabulous. I'm lost for words. This was a dream today. It's truly incredible. "It was a really difficult match for me today, especially in the second set, which was very close." There were emotional scenes among the 15,000 crowd as she lifted the trophy. Saturday's win was Pierce's 10th over Martinez in 16 meetings and her ninth in the past 11. Pierce would have been glad to win in two sets after ending up on a drip after ousting top-seeded Martina Hingis in a marathon semi-final on Thursday. Pierce, who puts her success here down to her rediscovery of God and Catholicism, has had an up-and-down career, though her religion and her closeness to her brother and coach David have settled her down recently. Her religious convictions have been cemented by her relationship with Robero Alomar, a Major League Baseball star with the Cleveland Indians. Pierce's Australian Open win in 1995 made her the first Frenchwoman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era and she can also bag doubles glory Sunday when she partners Hingis against 10th-seeded Virgina Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paolo Suarez of Argentina in the women's doubles final.
