Paes teams up with Navratilova at US Open

In a coup of sorts, the US Open mixed doubles lineup has a remarkable combination sure to stagger most tennis fans. Leander Paes of India will share the court with -- surprise, surprise! -- Martina Navratilova, four-time women's singles and nine-time doubles winner at the New York Grand Slam.

Paes himself has won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1999, pairing with Lisa Raymond of the US. His best performance at the US Open, though, has been runner-up in 1999 with Mahesh Bhupathi, the same year that they won the French and Wimbledon men's doubles, and came in second at the Australian.

Interestingly, earlier this year, Paes and Raymond beat Navratilova and Max Mirnyi at Wimbledon. Mirnyi is Bhupathi's doubles partner in the men's draw.

While details of how the unlikely pairing came about are not yet available, it will be interesting to watch how the 29-year-old, 5'10", right-handed Paes combines with the 45-year-old, 5'8", left-handed Navratilova, a legend in her own right.

Navratilova holds 18 singles Grand Slams and 31 doubles titles. Paes, on the other hand, has just three Grand Slams to his credit, all of them in doubles.

Bhupathi, meanwhile, has stuck with Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, with whom he won this year's Wimbledon mixed doubles. The duo has been seeded third at the Open and will meet unseeded Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan and Cyril Suk of the Czech Republic in the first round.

Paes and Navratilova, who have never played together before, are up against top seeds Todd Woodbridge and Rennae Stubbs in the first round.