After a loss in early months of 2000 (before the French Open which she would win), she said she felt "empty and miserable", but then "I gave my life to Jesus and was born again... things in me changed instantly.

"[4] Pierce also credits this change in spiritual direction to her pre-existing friendship with another tennis pro, Linda Wild.

[7] In April 1989 at a WTA tournament in Hilton Head, Pierce became the youngest American player (prior to Jennifer Capriati in 1990) to make her debut on the professional tour, aged 14 years and 2 months.

[7] Due to her physicality and aggressive approach, her ballstriking was compared to that of Capriati,[7] and she quickly gained a reputation for being one of the hardest hitters on the women's circuit.

[9] She won her first WTA Tour singles tournament in July 1991 in Palermo by defeating Sandra Cecchini in the final.

[6] In July 1993, Pierce successfully filed for a restraining order against her father, who was known to be verbally abusive to his daughter and her opponents, and was banned by the WTA from attending her tournaments.

[10][11] Following this split from her father, Pierce was coached by Nick Bollettieri, whose tennis academy she had briefly attended as a teenager in 1988.

German Aguero, founder of Future Tennis Camps, can also be credited with Pierce's early success as he took her in for several years and coached her free of charge.

[13] The following year, Pierce won her first Grand Slam title for France by defeating Sánchez Vicario in straight sets in the final of the 1995 Australian Open and lost just 30 games in the whole tournament in becoming the first Canadian-born tennis player to win a singles Grand Slam.

Pierce suffered a series of setbacks in 1996, including her split with Nick Bollettieri, after failing to defend her title at the Australian Open.

Pierce was a member of the French team that won the 1997 Fed Cup, and her only title that season was the Italian Open, defeating Conchita Martínez in the final.

[15] She won four titles in 1998: the Paris indoor event, the Amelia Island Championships, the Kremlin Cup, and the Luxembourg Open.

[16][17] She also partnered with Hingis to win the women's doubles crown, their second Grand Slam tournament of the year after the Australian Open.

At the Olympics in Athens, Pierce defeated sixth-seeded Venus Williams in the third round before losing to top-seeded and eventual gold-medallist Justine Henin of Belgium in the quarterfinals.

At the French Open, she reached the singles final for the third time, where she lost to Henin in straight sets, losing 1–6, 1–6 in just over one hour.

Pierce faced Venus Williams in that quarterfinal and lost the match after a second set tiebreak consisting of 22 points.

In August, she won her first singles title of the year at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating Ai Sugiyama in the final.

The win in Moscow secured her spot at the year-ending championships in Los Angeles where the top eight singles players competed for the winner's prize of one million dollars.

Pierce reached the final of her next tournament, the Gaz de France in Paris, where she lost to compatriot Amélie Mauresmo in straight sets.

In just her second tournament in over six months, Pierce played at the US Open and lost to Li Na, the 24th seed from China, in the third round.

[22] Pierce, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic[23] are the only three women to win both the championship and the wooden spoon at a Grand Slam tournament.

[25][4] Pierce was an aggressive baseline player who had a reputation for being one of the hardest hitters on the WTA tour and would dictate a match from the first point.

Her two-handed backhand was similarly hit flat and was used to attack weak second serves and create sharp angles around the court.

Her game was also heavily affected by nerves, and, when nervous, she would take increasingly long amounts of time preparing between points.