Jim Pierce

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Jim Pierce is the father and former coach of tennis star Mary Pierce.

Jim introduced his daughter to tennis at the age of 10 (a relatively late age for a future professional). Just two years later, Mary won the US national 12-and-under junior title. In 1989, she became the youngest American player to make her debut on the professional tour, aged 14 years and 2 months (this record was broken the following year by Jennifer Capriati).

During her first few years as a professional player, Mary Pierce was known more for the behaviour of her father than for her performances on court. Jim, who was Mary's coach, often shouted abuse at her opponents during matches. On one occasion when he was sitting in the stands, he famously screamed: "Mary, kill the bitch!" He was also reportedly often verbally and physically abusive to Mary during practice sessions and after defeats. Jim was ejected from the French Open in 1993 after he punched a spectator, following which he was banned from all Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour events until 1998. The incident also prompted the WTA to pass a new rule (commonly referred to as the "Jim Pierce Rule") which prohibits abusive conduct on the part of players, coaches and relatives.

Mary dropped Jim as her coach in 1993 and took out a restraining order against him. A few weeks later, he got into a fight with her bodyguard at a hotel where she was staying. He then sued her claiming that he had been promised 25% of her earnings as a tennis player, and she paid him US$500,000 to drop the suit and leave her alone. She withdrew from Wimbledon in 1994 after a British tabloid newspaper threatened to smuggle Jim into the grounds.

Since then, Jim has had some short stints coaching other tennis players, including Marlene Weingartner. He has divorced Mary's mother Yannick and remarried.

After splitting from Jim in 1993, Mary was coached by Nick Bollettieri (whose tennis academy she had briefly attended as a teenager in 1988). Her brother David has since become her regular coach.

Recently Mary has become reconciled with Jim, and occasionally does practice sessions with him.