TENNIS/Wimbledon Championships, day four: Mary Pierce is one of those players you might remember as the preening neurotic; the black battle dress for the court and the blond ponytail; the "I'm-too-sensitive-for this world" attitude. She then found creatine and God, put the former in her stomach and the latter on her sleeve.

People became mildly embarrassed for her, occasionally distressed but overwhelmingly disinterested. What ever happened to the French Open winner of three years ago and the Wimbledon quarter finalist of 1996? Pierce was the player who shot into view, became fashionable for a few years, and just as quickly disappeared again from the public's interest.

Yesterday Pierce was put out on the graveyard Court Two against Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, the 14th seed. For the French Canadian it was a reversal of sorts. While she went into the match as the 88th-ranked player in the world and the underdog, she knew her chances of winning were high, which she did with consummate ease.

Slightly out of shape, Pierce was the dominant player and moving freely, an ability that has not, in the past years, been readily available to her. After a series of injuries and genuine doubts about the viability of her career, the 28-year-old is thankful now of being able to compete pain free. Her priorities have changed and a noticeably carefree attitude has been born.

Unseeded and entirely without expectations, she now has every chance of advancing to the fourth round as her 6-4, 6-1 win takes her through to meet the American 23rd-seed Lisa Raymond.

Pierce, as they say at Wimbledon, is one of those players without rank or particularly threatening form, but with a proven tennis game she is a dangerous floater.

"Imagine having a few injuries and not being able to go to work every day, so maybe you could imagine what that would be like. So for me it was difficult," she says.

"You know, I just took it day by day and tried to do the best that I could every day, really. The thoughts do come into your head every once in a while. I know there was one time where I was doubtful if I would be able to play again with my back injury.

"I'm very passionate. I am, you know, a sensitive person, so yeah, I mean it was difficult."

The promise of riches after her Grand Slam win in Paris never materialised for Pierce. Instead she limped along fluttering in and out of tennis consciousness, always there playing but never really quite at full throttle scattering the top seeds. Her creatine-driven muscle bulk-up caused a few curious heads to turn but the tennis never quite reached a level that caused anyone to stop and look.

"It's kind of weird how my career has gone," she says. "I felt like when I won the French Open, I was starting to play my best tennis, just starting to. I kind of feel like I've just, kind of, left from that point and not much has happened in those last three years for me."

But plenty has happened on court and while Pierce struggles to rediscover her old game of three years ago, it could very well be an entirely new game she will need to face a sport that, even in that short timespan, has changed considerably .

"Oh it's (tennis) gotten a lot better," she says. "The girls are a lot stronger, they move better, they hit harder. The game has definitely improved."

One of those harder, stronger, louder hitters played again yesterday - 16-year-old Maria Sharapova.

Again this young Florida-based Russian is not just catching the eye but forcing people to stop and look. Wonderfully athletic, tall and strong Sharapova came through 6-3, 6-1 against her compatriot, 22-year-old Elena Bovina.

Sharapova will form one half of the partnership in the most attractive match of the third round against Yugoslavian 11th-seed Jelena Dokic. Dokic, although beating Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi by exactly the same score 6-3, 6-1, has been struggling with form over the last year and has been juggling coaches.

Sharapova now stands at six feet having grown two inches since last November.

"It started last November or maybe even earlier. Just a period when you keep measuring yourself week after week after week," she says. "It's like longer and longer and longer. So you say to yourself, when is it going to stop? But I don't exactly know."

Protected from too much competition by the Women's Tennis Association the teenager has had problems growing into her height. She has had to catch up with her ever-changing body.

"It was definitely very tough at the beginning of the year. I felt uncoordinated. I didn't know it until I went out to play a match. My body was saying 'Huh, huh, no way you're not going to run to that ball'. Many players on the tour are quite tall. So I knew that everyone had this problem. I definitely grew very fast in a certain amount of time."

For the more celebrated players, it was another day of safe passage into the first weekend.

Jennifer Capriati, or, "J-Cap" (or j-caP, or, J-CaP), as she is known in America, was lightly stretched by Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian. The Swiss number 38 earned just three games against the American.

Serena Williams took a little longer against 32-year-old Belgian Els Callens to win 6-4, 6-4. The number one has had significant trouble with Belgians in the last year. Justin Henin-Hardenne has beaten her twice while Kim Clijsters let slip a 5-1 lead in the final set at the Australian Open in January.

Clijsters today plays America's Samantha Reeves while French Open champion Henin-Hardenne struggled to win her first set against Flavia Pennetta. She finally took it in a tie-break before striking out the Italian 6-1 in the second.