Pierce Reaches Australian Open Final : Tennis: Krickstein wins to make it an all-American men’s semifinal matchup.

Mary Pierce, reeling between shows of anger and happiness, reached the second Grand Slam final of her career Thursday at the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez.

In a sloppy match punctuated by injuries to both players, Pierce’s deep groundstrokes and 18 clean winners proved too much for Martinez to handle with a strained tendon under the arch of her right foot.

Pierce, a finalist at the French Open last year, took the first injury timeout after the third game of the match. She had clutched her right arm in the first game after hitting a forehand winner, and WTA Tour trainer Kathy Morton said she treated her for a slightly strained rotator cuff in her right arm.

“It’s nothing really serious or pulled,” Pierce said. “My muscles just get very tight on my shoulders so I needed to get loosened up before it got too late.”

The injury didn’t hamper Pierce’s play, and she broke Martinez in the next game when the second-seeded Spaniard double-faulted to break point, then mis-hit a backhand long and wide. That was the only break Pierce needed as she held serve the rest of the set, closing it out with a crisp backhand crosscourt.

Martinez took an injury timeout after losing her service in the first game of the second set with two more double-faults. Martinez looked slow, but it was her poor serving and wild shots that lost the match for her. She had 32 unforced errors to Pierce’s 26, and never held serve in the second set, losing the match on her fourth break of that set when Pierce put away a backhand approach shot.

Pierce’s emotions were evident on nearly every point as she constantly looked up to her coach, Sven Groeneveld, for approval or sympathy. It was as if Pierce’s father, Jim, were still in the stands, though he’s been banned from tournaments for the past two years for disruptive behavior.

In all the decades American men sailed over or flew in to play Grand Slam tennis tournaments on foreign soil, they never ruled one as they have this Australian Open.

Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Aaron Krickstein, the all-American semifinalists, accomplished a feat unmatched in the golden years of Bill Tilden and his buddies in the 1920s and the fiery days of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and friends in the 1970s and ‘80s.