In the end Mary Pierce rode out the storm in her head in the second set, gathered herself and sent Martina Hingis home.

No mother's shoulder to cry on this year for 19-year-old Hingis. No anguished collapse. It was a dignified 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 exit from the number one seed who had, against the wishes of the crowd, done as much as any player has against Pierce in such form.

Pierce had to receive medical treatment after the match for dehydration. Ground strokes that kicked up the clay in puffs drew gasps and had Hingis, who covers the ground as fast as any player in the world, stretching for the entire match.

But the Swiss teenager was reluctant to mix the game. Her slice was absent and even when she tried it was usually in desperation. Pierce simply kept the world number one stretched at the back of the court.

For Pierce, seeded six, it was a watershed. She has not been able to beat Hingis in their last seven meetings extending back to San Diego in 1998 and she came into the match facing her doubles partner and the tournament favourite.

Apart from her forehand Pierce brought with her a temperament that was known to have the fragility of Beleek china. On occasions that low frazzle point showed.

Pierce had a match point in the second set with Hingis serving at 54 but hit an unforced error over the backline. She volleyed the next into the net and the one after that long. Match saved.

But the volume of tough ground strokes, especially angled and off her forehand with top spin, simply overpowered Hingis as serving almost became a way of starting the points. Seven breaks in the first set, five in the second and four in the third ensured a momentum that swung violently each way with both players finally coming close to cramping.

"If you play two hours and you have to run from one corner to the other . . . it was too tough to come back against a player like Mary today," said Hingis later. "She played smarter and the slice really wasn't working for me." Comparison to Pete Sampras whose Holy Grail the French Open has become were dismissed by Hingis. "I've nothing to worry about. Mary Pierce and Conchita Martinez have never won here. Now one of them will. Mary is 24 and Conchita 28 so I've more years left."

Pierce has been a finalist here in 1994 when she dropped only 10 games en route, a record, including a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of number one Steffi Graf. But she has yet to win a Grand Slam.

The winner received medical treatment afterwards for dehydration and said: "I couldn't have lasted much more. I would have had to have called the trainer, who knows.

"It's the first cramps I've ever had, I've never had them before.

I hit a backhand and fell to the ground and got a big cramp in my left calf. But I will be OK for Saturday.

It's exciting. I'm very happy. Conchita is playing very well. She's a good claycourt player.

The Pierce match with Hingis, however, transpired to be a tonic after Conchita Martinez's shock win over compatriot Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. Sanchez-Vicario will watch the replay with horror as her unforced errors mounted, both players treating the net like a high voltage cable.

Martinez, who brought a sports psychologist for the first time, simply tossed everything back, on occasion drawing the wrath of the crowd as balls ballooned over the net. Sanchez-Vicario's Grand Slam game had clearly been left with her quarter-final win over Venus Williams. Two breaks in the first set gave Martinez a 6-1 lead with three breaks in the second, in just over half an hour for 6-2.