Navratilova said she was annoyed that she hasn't managed to play as well in a match as she has in practice.

"That's just nerves. That's getting better, every match is getting better," she said.

Navratilova, 43, said all athletes get increasingly nervous as they age.

"You feel so much more, maybe the love of the game and you want to do so well. You know your time is running out," she said. "You know what pressure is. I played Evonne Goolagong in the quarterfinals in 1973 and had set point. I could have beaten her. I was having the time of my life.

"Now if I had to play a quarterfinals singles match, I don't know if I could walk out there, I'd be so nervous," she said.

Squillari's surprise Argentina's Franco Squillari, the surprise of the French Open, is just starting to believe he can win.

"When I started coaching him, he was playing very well but not winning a single match and ranked No. 427 in the world," said his coach, Horacio de la Pena. "In less than six months, he was in the top 100. It was all a question of confidence."

The unseeded Squillari became the first Argentine since 1982 to reach a Grand Slam men's semifinal when he beat Albert Costa 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Wednesday at the French Open. He'll play third-seeded Magnus Norman in the semifinals Friday.

De la Pena, 33, described Squillari a shy young man who doesn't realize how powerful he is.

"He doesn't see his strength, he doesn't see how the other guy is suffering out there when they're playing," he said.

Squillari, 23, couldn't agree more.

"Horacio brings me confidence," Squillari said. "He has me believing in myself no matter who I'm playing, even if it's Sampras, or whether I'm at the U.S. Open or Wimbledon. He's convinced I can win, and somehow, I do."

Asked about Squillari's tendency to play six feet behind the baseline, de la Pena said that's where Squillari finds his rhythm.

"When I started coaching him, I tried to make him play where he feels comfortable. That was the problem before -- everyone tried to make him play at the baseline. That's not his tennis."

Hail Mary: Mary Pierce has a new look -- no glasses or contacts, thanks to laser surgery in February that has given her 20-20 vision. She has also taken off the dangling gold chains and replaced them with white rosary beads she tucks into the top of her low-cut tennis dress.

According to French television, the rosary beads come straight from the Vatican.

Pierce, seeded sixth, will play in the French Open semifinals Thursday against top-seeded Martina Hingis.

Displaying a more relaxed attitude both on and off the court, Pierce said her new outlook comes from having "God in my life."

"My relationship with God is basically very simple. I put everything in God's hands. I just don't worry. Whatever happens. That's made a huge difference in my tennis game, as it has in my life," she said.

Rosewall recollections: Thirty-two years after he won his last French Open title, Australian Ken Rosewall was back in Paris on Wednesday, competing in the Legends' Trophy and teamed with Fred Stolle.

Rosewall, 66, said tennis has changed dramatically since the years when he dominated the men's circuit.

Back in 1968 when student riots paralyzed the nation, bringing France to the brink of civil war, Rosewall had nowhere to stay.

Today, millionaire players can afford to stay in the finest Paris hotels and are chauffeured to and from Roland Garros.

"There were so many problems in Paris that Philippe Chatrier (later president of the French and International Tennis Federations) put me up in his own home," he said.