Neither that, nor painkilling medicine, nor three visits from a trainer could help his right hip. Kuerten, 27, has never been the same player since arthroscopic surgery in February 2002, and it's fair to wonder how much longer he'll compete with the best.
Seeded 28th, he needed five sets just to get out of the first round against a qualifier ranked 130th. He summoned the will and some brilliant shotmaking to upset No. 1 Roger Federer in the third round, but Kuerten acknowledged he didn't have much left.
"He made me run a lot. I really suffered," Kuerten said. "Right now, I don't know what's going to happen if I had to play another match."
Gaudio, of course, is thrilled to still be around. He considered quitting the sport when finances were tight during his early years on tour.
"Sometimes, there was no money to travel," said Gaudio, 25. "Sometimes you had to stay in Europe for an extra month to wait for the next tournament. We couldn't go back home because we couldn't pay the airfare."
Against Hewitt, the consummate baseline scrambler, Gaudio played patiently. He had 19 unforced errors to Hewitt's 43 and showed he can mix things up, winning 20 of 21 points at the net.
John McEnroe still knows how to entertain a crowd.
On the Suzanne Lenglen show court at the French Open, McEnroe combined superb tennis with classic temper tantrums -- all after his match ended Wednesday.
McEnroe and his Legends' doubles partner, Jakob Hlasek, forfeited the second match of a round robin after Hlasek hurt his right calf muscle seven minutes into the match. Opponents Andre Chesnokov and Thierry Champion were leading 2-0.
That's when the fun started.
Champion took the court opposite McEnroe and the injured Hlasek watched from the sidelines. With the umpire gone, Chesnokov climbed the chair and began calling shots in Champion's favor.
"Shut up!" McEnroe muttered to a fan who yelled words of encouragement when he hit a shot into the net.
TITLE THREAT
Martina Navratilova moved a step closer to her 32nd Grand Slam doubles title Wednesday.
The No. 5-seeded team of Navratilova and Lisa Raymond won 7-6 (5), 6-3 against No. 4 Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy to reach the French Open semifinals.
A stinging forehand at Petrova's feet by the 47-year-old Navratilova won the first set. She broke Petrova's serve to give the No. 5 seeds a 4-2 lead in the second.
Navratilova, the French Open singles champion in 1982 and 1984, received warm applause from fans.
Last week Navratilova played her first Grand Slam singles match in 10 years.
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