After eye surgery, Pierce has goals for this year set

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Mary Pierce can see clearly now and perhaps find the way back to a Grand Slam tennis championship.

The 1995 French Open winner at age 20, Pierce was at the same time going through the early stages of estrangement from her father, Jim.

Under a modified ban by the Sanex Women's Tennis Association Tour, Jim Pierce now can be on site if coaching a player. That only comes into effect at combined events, since Pierce is coaching men.

Mary Pierce meets her doubles partner Martina Hingis in a State Farm Women's Tennis Classic singles semifinal at 6 tonight. She reached her first semifinal of the year Friday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over French countrywoman Nathalie Dechy.

Pierce has been to just one Grand Slam final (1997 Australian) since '95. The last two years, she has been stuck at a quarterfinal plateau.

Yet the 25-year-old still is ranked sixth in the world. She is engaged to Roberto Alomar of the Cleveland Indians and as of Feb. 9 rid herself of contact lenses by undergoing Lasik eye surgery.

Like Monica Seles, she is using a new Yonex racket, going for more power than with a 13-year-old Wilson model.

"It's exciting," Pierce said. "My eyes, it's amazing. Sometimes I overrun the ball. I anticipate so quick now. I feel quicker. I'm moving the same, it's just I can see the ball much quicker.

"I still have trouble sometimes at night with the lights. Sometimes my left eye might be a little bit blurry. But overall that's normal. It's just the greatest thing. It's like a miracle.

"I'm so happy I did it. I heard Tiger Woods did it, and after that he won like six (golf) tournaments in a row."

Pierce would settle for this one as a start, since to win would mean getting past not only Hingis but likely No. 2 Lindsay Davenport. She has at least one title in seven of the last nine years but has not beaten Hingis since 1998.

The third-seeded team of Hingis and Pierce also are in the doubles semifinals today against second seeds Davenport and Anna Kournikova.

"It's almost a Catch 22 against Martina," Pierce said. "You've got to be aggressive, because if you're not you give her the chance, and she's going to take it from you. Any little chance you get from her, you've got to capitalize and take it."