By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MASON - There's a "Beast" across I-71 from Paramount's Kings Island, too.

This one's full name is Maxim Nikolaevich Mirnyi, though he goes by Max or his monster-like moniker. At 6-foot-5, he's 103 1/2 feet shorter than that thrill ride across the street. But in the tennis world, his ride is getting pretty thrilling.

The 26-year-old from Belarus won two more matches Thursday, which makes 79 this year between singles and doubles - the most in professional tennis. He has reached the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters quarterfinals in both draws, and with Mahesh Bhupathi forms the world's No. 1 doubles team.

CORIA VS. MIRNYI

When: 1 p.m., Center Court Series: First meeting Quick hit: Coria is 18-1 since Wimbledon; Mirnyi is 19-9 on hard courts in '03.

"It's rewarding (playing both), because I get many more wins, and with that experience I can come through in the tough situations like today," Mirnyi said.

He was referring to his 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4 victory Thursday over Hicham Arazi, in which he blew a second-set match point and then had to rally from 3-1 down in the final set.

Mirnyi came back with Bhupathi to beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Gustavo Kuerten 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Six sets in 90-degree heat? No problem for the ironman who played in the second-most matches (127) on tour last year and third-most (116) the year prior. He has already played 112 this year.

"Doubles has been a big part of my career," Mirnyi said. "I've achieved something I've always dreamed of, being No. 1. And it (complements) my singles game, helps me be sharp serving and volleying."

The Beast matched his career-high ranking this week at No. 26. He'll surpass that come Monday.

Mirnyi is 33-21 this year, his best singles season on tour. In February, he won the Rotterdam tournament, becoming the first Belarussian to win an ATP singles title.

Yet his singles success has come in a less-traditional way, as he first broke through as a mixed-doubles player and then in men's doubles.

He has 17 career men's doubles titles. He previously partnered with former world No. 1s Serena Williams (mixed doubles, 1998) and Lleyton Hewitt (2000) to win U.S. Open titles, then won the Open again last year with Bhupathi.

In October 2001 at Stuttgart, Germany, he came out of the qualifier and then beat top-seed Gustavo Kuerten, reigning Wimbledon champ Goran Ivanisevic, Pete Sampras and Kafelnikov to reach his first final.

"That gave me a huge boost of confidence," he said.

Now the singles victories are becoming more common.

The successes of Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov, a one-time Wimbledon semifinalist, have moved tennis into the public consciousness in Belarus.

"I'm delighted the way it's coming through for me right now," Mirnyi said. I've always wanted to play like that."

E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com