Action off the court is almost as interesting as who is top dog on it, and world number one Martina Hingis is facing more questions about her boyfriend Magnus Norman than about her game.
A post-match interview on Wednesday melted into muffled giggles when one reporter asked if she had been correctly quoted in a tabloid paper as saying the tall Swede was ``very shaggable'' -- colloquial English for extremely sexy.
The interview moderator put an end to the fun as Hingis laughed. ``Could we please stick with tennis questions,'' he said.
Hingis, 19, and Norman, 23, are by no means alone in their blossoming romance.
Serena Williams - off the tennis circuit since April with injury - wondered at the number of new couples on the tour.
``I've been away. I missed a little of the action. Every day I see things, my eyes light up, 'Whoa, I didn't know','' said the 18-year-old whose father Richard has been quoted as saying tennis players should keep their private lives off court.
His advice has not been heeded by Belgian teenager Kim Clijsters and Australian Lleyton Hewitt who have cemented their love match by entering the mixed doubles together - a trend followed by American Jennifer Capriati and her Belgian boyfriend Xavier Malisse.
RELATIONSHIP STRESS
The younger of the two Williams sisters said going out with someone on tour could have a bad effect on the couple's tennis.
``It's really hard if you get involved in a relationship. Next thing you know, your game goes down, all kinds of things happen,'' Serena said.
But Hingis did not agree.
``I don't know if she had any experiences, so how can she talk about that?'' she asked with just a tinge of sharpness in her voice. ``I don't think my game went down so far so I'm doing pretty good. I'm happy with my relationship.''
On Wednesday the top women's seed made no effort to hide her bubbling happiness, saying she did not want to watch too much of Norman's match between her two appearances on court in singles and doubles because she got too nervous.
``I had relationships with tennis players before. I think you learn a lot from that. I think just the most important thing is the respect, responsibility, trust, just understanding for each other. Then I don't think it matters who it is,'' she said.
Clijsters, 17, rushed through her interview on Tuesday so she could get on centre court to watch Hewitt's match. He, like Norman, lost.
``It's good support to have him here and he helps me a lot,'' she said.