A Slideshow Of Mary's Career

June 1996

25th June 1996

Mary 6-3,6-2 victory over Patty Schnyder in the first round of Wimbledon was an upbeat performance from the start and one which often left her opponent swinging her racket to and fro in sheer exasperation.

Mary's simple white dress, which needed the occasional tug to keep it hugging the right places, did not create quite the same sensation as that little black number in Paris. Why, she was asked afterwards, had she simply not opted for the same dress she wore in Paris but in white?

"Because that one was for then and this one is for now," came her more than adequate reply.

Was it because of the reaction to the dress in Paris?

Mary's answer, here, was a tangle of contradictions before finally she conceded that the French dress was "a little bit, I don't know how to pinpoint it exactly, interesting, different, exciting, you know".

Beyond the dress, people were noticing that Mary was looking uncommonly fit. Mary gave plenty of credit to her coach Brad Gilbert. 

"We have a really good time practising, Brad is smart, very intelligent. He knows a lot of things about the game and everything he has been telling me is beginning to sink in."

27th - 3rd June 1996

Mary easily beat Claire Taylor, Natalia Medvedeva and Elena Likhovtseva respectively to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal. 

5th June 1996

Lost a tough three setter to Kimiko Date