TENNIS: The less sensitive in the crowd were making bets on which fragile game would be first to shatter under pressure. Amelie Mauresmo and Anastasia Myskina are experienced Grand Slam players, Myskina last year's French Open champion and Mauresmo a semi-finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Both too are prone to feeling the weight of Centre Court nerves.
For the admirers of the French player's classic, one-handed backhand, they will again get a chance to see it in action in tomorrow's semi-final. Mauresmo, who went into yesterday's quarter-final with a 5-1 career advantage over her Russian opponent, controlled her nerves, played her more varied game and came away with quite a comfortable passage into a semi-final meeting with Lindsay Davenport.
Mauresmo also stepped on to court with the best record of any of the eight players who featured yesterday. Over her previous four matches she had conceded only 63 games, two fewer than Maria Sharapova and 59 fewer than Myskina.
Indeed the average time per match Myskina had spent on court before yesterday's match was two hours 15 minutes compared to just 57 minutes for Mauresmo.
But more than tiredness, it was Mauresmo's ability to play backcourt or serve-volley and find her rhythm in both styles that won her the match.
Set against the robust but committed backcourt game of Myskina, Mauresmo played the aristocrat to her opponent's artisan. Hard, flat groundstrokes were not strong or accurate enough to knock the French player off her more stylish approach or keep her from approaching the net.
"I really decided to put the pressure on her right from the first game and make her play as many shots as I could, especially to pass me," said Mauresmo. "Much more comfortable on the court, much more in my rhythm and really enjoying the game."
The third seed broke Myskina in the first set for 3-1 before handing back the advantage three games later. But Mauresmo again responded positively, immediately breaking Myskina's serve for 5-3 and serving for the set.
The second set took a similar path toward conclusion, Mauresmo again breaking for 3-1 before offering her service game back again and instantly breaking back for 5-4 to serve for the match.
Mauresmo will have mixed feelings about facing Davenport; her record against the world number one is not something she can seize upon to build confidence.
Davenport yesterday had another encouraging win against fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year's US Open champion.
While Davenport's levels didn't reach the heights of her match against Kim Clijsters, Kuznetsova was seen as one of the most dangerous players in the draw, despite the relatively low profile.
At 29 Davenport is looking at her fourth Wimbledon semi-final. A winner here in 1999, she has not been able to press for a second title in the last six years. But the Kuznetsova match was another high-level workout and again she showed the quality of her serve and groundstrokes. But in the first-set tie-break frustration began to creep into the American's game and at one stage she bounced her racquet off the ground before replacing the damaged goods with one from her bag.
Still, she grabbed the set before a smoother 6-3 second handed her the match.
"Physically I felt pretty good out there. It was important for me to come back and consolidate this great win I had (against Clijsters)," said Davenport. "Today was a totally different match. I don't think I was able to get in as many returns today as I was yesterday.
"Mauresmo is going to be a totally different game to all the girls I've played so far. I'm going to get sliced backhands and she's going to be coming in. I'll try and keep her on the baseline and not allow her to come forward," she added.
