As odd couples go, these two likely top the current crop of players on the circuit. But unlike most odd couples, these two seem to get along famously, sharing great chemistry both on court, despite the fact that they are a generation removed in tennis years.
That sort of chemistry showed on Center Court on Tuesday, as Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes moved smoothly into the mixed doubles' semi-finals of the 2004 U.S. Open, in the process beating Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Maria Sharapova of Russia.
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With early breaks in both sets, Navratilova-Paes were rarely challenged, except occasionally by Mirnyi's booming serve, which went as high as 135 mph on occasion.
But this is Arthur Ashe, center court at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York, and a site that Navratilova is much used to. And given the legend that she is, and that she is still showing much younger players a thing or two about playing tennis and athleticism, the crowd clearly knew who it wanted to root for, evidenced by the cheer - loudest among all four - that went up when her name was announced.
To be fair, however, 17-year-old Sharapova - who took the tennis world by storm with her Wimbledon win this year - had her share of fans, though it is a matter of debate whether it was more for her charm or her game, at least if a solitary matrimonial proposition yelled out by a fan from on high is anything to go by.
The matchup was interesting in another sense in that both Navratilova and Paes are, by conventional standards, old warhorses in the tennis world. But Paes soon put any such thoughts at rest with his razor sharp reflexes at the net, as well as his athleticism and allcourt play. Indeed, time and again, Paes seemed to find angles that had the crowd showing its lusty appreciation.
Starting off about 30 minutes after the scheduled start of the evening session, Mirnyi and Paes both held their serves in the first set; Sharapova was broken in the third game and Navratilova then held her own to go up 3-1, a break that proved crucial.
A few jitters came in the eighth game, when Sharapova's service game was again put to the test, going through a series of deuces before she finally held for 3-4. The game, though, yielded plenty of fast-paced tennis from all four, including a mistake from the chair umpire who awarded the game to Mirnyi and Sharapova after their opponents had won an advantage point to level it back to deuce. The crowd promptly vocalized its disapproval with a collective boo as Paes and Navratilova looked on in shock. To their credit, Mirnyi and Sharapova had already walked back to the deuce court in recognizance that the chair had erred. Two more deuce points later, the Russian teen closed out the game.
The second set was far better for Paes-Navratilova as they broke the crucial serve of Mirnyi in the first game itself. Paes, however, came close to losing his serve in the next game when Sharapova hit a clean pass down the line to go up 40-30. One deuce later, he hit a winning volley that gave them a 2-0 lead.
In the third game, though, Mirnyi exposed a chink in Paes' game, passing him easily down the sidelines. Constantly looking to intercept, Paes often leaves his flank exposed and often parks himself close to the center of the service court when his partner is serving, a skill that both he and Bhupathi had near-perfected during their days together. Today, though, that cost him a few points as both Mirnyi and Sharapova often exploited it; it was Paes' athleticism that saved quite a few more.
Games went with serve at a rapid pace until it was, appropriately enough, time for Navratilova to serve out the match and move on to the next round where they will meet Alicia Molik and Todd Woodbridge of Australia. Woodbridge will likely also be looking to avenge his loss earlier in the men's doubles to Paes and David Rikl. Top seeds Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman were ousted in three sets on Monday.
In other matches today, Venus Williams, who had been looking a tad shaky throughout this tournament, bowed out of the Open just when she seemed to getting a grip on her game. Williams lost to Lindsay Davenport 5-7, 4-6 in the pre-quarterfinals, despite often coming close to winning crucial games. In fact, Williams hit more winners than Davenport, 32-24, but was outplayed in virtually every other department, and committing more than twice the number of unforced errors, 42-20.
However, sister Serena Williams is still in the draw and faces Jennifer Capriati tomorrow in what promises to be an exciting matchup.
Agassi continued to juggernaut his way through the draw, throwing out Armenia's Sargis Sargsian, ranked 54, in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in a clinical, almost brutal, display of his groundstrokes. It remains to be seen if the 34-year-old Agassi, the oldest in the men's singles draw, can hold his own against Swiss Roger Federer, who he is scheduled to play in the quarter-finals.
