Wimbledon title with Bhupathi is Pierce's favourite

Mary Pierce, who is the International Brand Ambassador of the World TCS 10K, is the holder of four Grand Slam titles. For many reasons, Pierce calls her last of the four Grand Slam titles -- the mixed doubles triumph with Mahesh Bhupathi -- her favourite.

In 2005, the Indo-French pair defeated Paul Jason Hanley of Australia and Tatiana Yurevna Perebiynis of Ukraine 6-4, 6-2 in the summit round to emerge champions. "A Wimbledon Trophy is always special. When we won the title in 2005 I was so thrilled that I kept the trophy on my night stand next to my bed," recollected Pierce at a press conference here on Thursday.

For Pierce, playing with Bhupathi was an honour. "Mahesh was more experienced in the doubles circuit and I wouldn't have missed a chance to play with him. Before our successful campaign, I did come close to being his mixed doubles partner but for some reasons, things didn't work out. But in 2005, when we did finalise our pairing, I was excited and we gave our best," the 43-year-old said.

Pierce credited Bhupathi for keeping her in good stead during testing situations. "He is a player with lot of qualities. I learnt a lot under him. Some of the things he did, like the shots he would hit, felt like they came out of nowhere. It was amazing. His words of advice were always helpful. He was a funny guy. His sense of humour and laidback approach would calm me down in tense scenarios," Pierce recounted.