Even the crafty Martina Hingis, an expert at decoding her opponents, was momentarily stunned by the half-volleys Tauziat scooped off the court, by the antique one-handed backhands she rolled down the lines, by the instincts the veteran used to end points quickly last night at Madison Square Garden.
For a moment, the past was actually catching up to the present, until Hingis called up her aggressive side and began cutting the corners off the court, using her racket as a pair of scissors. She lopped off all the angles to Tauziat's game, began passing her left and right and then feathered lobs that left her opponent shaking her head at the net.
Hingis escaped her quarterfinal match with a 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-2 victory. But throughout her brush with danger as the top-seeded player at the Chase Championships, she was taking note of Tauziat's methods. Lately, Hingis has been dabbling in the retro world of the serve and volley. In some matches, but mostly in practice, Hingis has been trying to master the nuances of the net game in order to dilute the power advantage of opponents like Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
"This is the only way players like us can get through the years and be consistent," said Hingis, who, like Tauziat, cannot rely on muscle.
"In the last two years, Nathalie had the high of her career. I mean, she's not the fastest player on the tour, but she has the anticipation. It's not that it is born in you. You have to practice it for hours and hours."
Often, Hingis and Tauziat practice together. In the past, Hingis has shown her savvy by joining forces with players who can help her. This new relationship is no exception.
"In the last two years, I have talked to Nathalie a little bit more," Hingis said. "I can learn a lot from her, even though she's like 10 years older. We have the very same mentality, the same view of the game.
"She's still from the older school. My mom calls her the `professor' because she teaches the young players. They don't know what to do with her because she has got such a different game from other players who just hit the ball. It's not easy playing her."
That fact has left Tauziat to reconsider her retirement plans. She has played so well this year � with a No. 9 ranking � that she has decided to stick around.
She stuck around last night's match as well. At first, a sluggish Tauziat groaned her way through the first set, becoming irritated with her own lapses in focus. In a solitary break-point opportunity in the first set, which Hingis plowed through in just 22 minutes, Tauziat yelled something off-color in French, drawing a warning from the umpire.
But she shrugged off the 6-1 first- set disaster. Suddenly, it was Tauziat who was snapping off volleys with precision and returning Hingis's faint serves into the corners for winners.
Hingis turned grumpy, started questioning calls and found herself locked in a tight match that spilled right into a second-set tie breaker.
Unable to summon her trademark wiles against an opponent who has seen it all in her 16-year career, Hingis buckled in the tie breaker. While Tauziat whipped winners, Hingis was spotted bouncing her racket off the court in dismay.
But Hingis has these moments. Then, out of nowhere, she shuts off the distractions, finds her focus and begins going for every point.
Soon, Tauziat was at Hingis's mercy once again. Hingis opened the third set by taking the first game at love, then broke Tauziat, who crumbled with a double fault on break point. From there, the spirit drained from Tauziat.
"I started serving a little bit less," Tauziat said, referring to the pace and placement of her serve. "She started returning much better. I think she can learn from my style. I think I've shown her that when we practice together."