With a combined age of 70 years (McEnroe is 40) and 16 Wimbledon titles between them, the Dream Team (seeded ninth despite entering on a wild card and dubbed McEnGraf by the media) took the crowd on a nostalgic trip.

``I've been playing the seniors and I'm not totally extinct yet,'' said McEnroe. It has been seven years since McEnroe played here he won the men's doubles title in 1992 with Michael Stich, but his game still commands a huge following.

``I felt so nervous coming out. I was kind of proud to play with you,'' Graf told her partner afterwards.

The very first point of the match had the crowd in splits when the old man threw his racquet in mock anger after Graf missed a return. Graf caught on and returned the action. But even McEnroefound it hard to control his laughter at their opponent Czech girl Eva Melicharova's stop-start serve.

Big Mac was diplomatic enough to suppress his laughter but Graf just couldn't stop; so much so that she was laughing through the change of ends after the first game. The eagerness to play at the ripe age of 40, poor opposition notwithstanding, was actually not lost on the crowd. After wrapping it up in straight sets, McEnroe, hands raised and throwing balls into the crowd and even shaking hands with some of them, had the crowd in a frenzy.

``I think we are both not big mixed doubles players. It's been 20 years for me, but I couldn't have picked up a better partner. Now, it's onward and upward,'' McEnroe said later.

Whose idea was it anyway? ``I hardly even remember because it's been bandied about for a long time. Once we sat and talked to each other about it, we realised it would be a nice idea,'' he said.

What did he tell you at the first changeover which had you laughing, Graf was asked. QuippedMcEnroe: ``That I'm the greatest player of all time! That brought a big laugh from her... I think it was looking at that girl's serve.'' Said Graf: ``I felt so nervous coming out and obviously when I walked out I was kind of proud to play with him. Very proud, and it was a great feeling to be out there.''

How does it feel to play with McEnroe? What does it mean for you as a champion, Graf was asked. ``Well, if I'm going to answer that, probably he's going to be one foot higher walking out of the door. I've always admired the way he plays and he is the one player I watched when I was growing up and when I started playing,'' the former world No 1 said.

It is debatable whether the star pair would go on to win the title. But they provided the kind of moments the big stars of today may have failed to.