NOT A SPORT FOR THE AGED.Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer CARSON - In a sport where two of the top four women are teenagers, Mary Pierce Mary Pierce (born on January 15, 1975, in Montreal, Canada) is a French-American women's professional tennis player on the WTA tour and the winner of a total of four Grand Slam titles: two in singles; and two in doubles. Pierce plays for France. showed last week that she is still going strong at age 30 by winning the Acura Classic The Acura Classic was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every summer at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. It was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament from 2004 until its final year in 2007. in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. . Pierce, seeded sixth at the JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM TYO: 8634 ) is one of the oldest financial services firms in the world. The company, headquartered in New York City, is one of the leaders in investment banking, financial services, asset and wealth management and private equity. With assets of $1. Open, doesn't think that many young players will play into their 30s in the future. ``With this generation coming in, I don't see them playing longer than 10 years because it's just so intense and so tough physically on the body,'' said Pierce, who has a first-round bye. ``Back when I started playing and the generation before me, the ladies played into their 30s and had longer careers. It just wasn't as physically demanding.'' One of the members of this new generation definitely agrees. Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова listen , ranked No. 2 in the world, promised that she will not be around at 30. ``I just want to play until I feel like I had enough and really don't think that's going to be until I'm 30,'' said Sharapova, 18. ``That's for sure, I can guarantee you that. Tennis is my life and my passion but I think there's so much more to life than just being on the tennis court. I'm sure I'll get tired of waking up every morning and having those long, tough days.'' Sharapova wants to pursue a career in the fashion industry as a designer following her playing days. Of course, Pierce, who started on the tour when she was 14, never thought she would be playing at 30, either. ``I thought I'd probably retire when I was 30,'' Pierce said. ``I thought that sounded like a good age to have kids and stuff. It just goes to show you that, in life, you never know. It doesn't always go as you planned.'' --Another out: Eighth-seeded Elena Likhovtseva Elena Likhovtseva ( Елена Лиховцева (jelena lixɔvtseva; born 8 September 1975 in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan) is a Russian tennis player, She turned professional in January 1992 at the age of 16. or Russia withdrew from the tournament Monday, citing gastrointestinal trouble. |
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