Navratilova comeback falters

Martina Navratilova will still play at Wimbledon

Nathalie Tauziat and Alexandra Fusai bt Martina Navratilova and Mariaan de Swardt 2-6, 6-2, 7-5

Martina Navratilova's doubles comeback faltered on Wednesday as she and her partner Mariaan de Swardt bowed out of the French Open in the third round.

But despite the setback, the tennis legend has said she still plans a double assault on Wimbledon in June.

Sixth-seeded pair Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat of France beat Navrtilova and de Swardt to advance to the quarter-finals in a match which started on Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday.

"We played a lot better yesterday - and they played a lot better today," Navratilova said.

She complained about the match not starting until 8pm on the first day when it was almost impossible to play to a finish before dark fell.

'Bad scheduling'

"There was no excuse for that," she said. "It was simply bad scheduling. "It's obvious if you go on at eight you aren't going to get finished. It's not an excuse for losing - it's just silly scheduling."

Navratilova, 43, has linked with South African de Swardt to play doubles at four events this summer - culminating with Wimbledon, where she could win a record 20th title.

She said said she was likely to play in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon with one of the world's top doubles players - India's Mahesh Bhupathi.

The veteran left-hander said she was looking forward to playing on grass, which has always been her favourite surface.

"Both Mariaan and I will be more effective on service on grass - and it should help both of our serve and volley games," she said.

Navratilova won 167 singles titles during her remarkable career but has not played singles competitively since 1994 or, until this tournament, doubles since 1996.

Asked if it was still fun to play tennis when losing matches she would have won in her prime, Navratilova was unequivocal.

"It's still fun - absolutely," she said. "It's fun to compete, to still be an athlete, but I hate losing."