By Etienne Stekelenburg
June 17 2004

Mary Pierce of France will be playing Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya in the semi final of the Ordina Open after defeating Anne Kremer of Luxemburg 6-4, 6-2. No.3 seed Pierce tied the head-to-head against Kremer 2 all in matches. The last time Mary Pierce played against Anne Kremer, the 28-year-old from Hesperance, Luxembourg won 6-3, 6-3. This was the first time they played each other on grass.

Kremer prefers both hard and grasscourts, Anne did make her debut this year on the grasscourts of the Ordina Open. Her best result on grass was a semifinal in Eastbourne 2000 after quarterfinal at Eastbourne in 1999 and again a quarterfinal in 2002.

In the first set Mary Pierce was facing not only her opponent but also a raindelay. Kremer could not hold Pierce off from taking the first set 6-4.

In the second set Pierce played a very good match and did not give Kremer a real chance to come back into the match. Pierce, who recently stopped working with Dutch coach Sven Groeneveld, took the set 6-2. Pierce, who picked up some Dutch words along the way, said Groeneveld thought it was best to break up the collaboration.