Playing inspired tennis in front of a fanatical Parisian crowd, a newly-revitalized Pierce put a demoralizing end to the Swiss Miss's hopes of winning her first ever Roland Garros crown, the only Slam yet to line her trophy cabinet.
The gutsy Frenchwoman pinned the world No1 behind the baseline for a significant part of the encounter, dictating play with a bevy of pinpoint accurate and powerful groundstrokes that sent Hingis scrambling. At the end of the two hour marathon, a severely-cramped Pierce, who it was revealed had not eaten since breakfast (the match began at 3:30pm) received an intravenous treatment.
The only time Hingis (a finalist here last year, where she was booed from the court), looked the dominant player on court today was in the first four games of the match. She broke Pierce's serve twice to surge ahead 3-1, but failed to hold her own serve for the remainder of the set.
Pierce had her own wobbly moments, when she served for the first set at 5-3, but made a string of unforced errors to hand Hingis the break back. She subsequently broke the No1 seed's serve to take the first set when a Hingis forehand clipped the net and tumbled back into her own court.
Hingis, who tried valiantly not to question calls today (but nevertheless did, and was heartily whistled and jeered by the French spectators) slammed her racket to the ground when she lost her serve to go 1-3 down in the second set, and bore the brunt of even more crowd distaste.
A nervous Pierce, who kissed her engagement ring and rosary necklace throughout the dual (she has recently found Catholicism) served for the match at 5-3 in the second. She set up her first match point with a blistering backhand that Hingis could barely touch, but floundered the next three points (and next four games) to hand Hingis the equalizer.
Not even men's semi finalist Magnus Norman, a "good friend" of the Swiss Miss who entered the stadium at the end of the second set, could spur Hingis to turn the tables in the decider. Pierce remained calm under fire, burying the rattled five-time Grand Slam champ in 35 minutes, care of three service breaks.
At the end, the Frenchwoman, who also made the final here in 1994 but hadn't beaten Hingis in their last seven encounters, buried her head in her hands and then saluted the delirious Court Central crowd.
She then retired to the locker room where she received an intravenous treatment, following severe cramping at the end of, and after the match. Pierce, it was reported by tournament medical staff who treated her, was unable to sit down (due to the cramping) for over one hour after she came off court.
Hingis, in stark contrast to her temperamental exit last year, walked from the court graciously, waving to the clapping fans.
"I knew what to expect. I'd watched the other matches, when she played Monica," Hingis said of the overwhelming reception for Pierce today. "She played a great match from the beginning. There were some tough conditions and she handled them better. She just played smarter today. I was already lucky to come back after one match point.
"She served very well and was focussed. That was the best she played against me in a long time. By the time I had figured out how to play on clay, it was too late. I have to mix it up, I can't overpower Mary on clay."
Hingis remains philosophical about the Roland Garros crown she is yet to stake a claim on: "As I said before I don't need the French Open to survive and I'll stick with that rule. I still have a lot of years in front of me. The two players in the final - one is 25, the other is 28 years old. I've got nothing to worry about right now."