Davenport Revelling In Golden Years

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday January 25, 2005

Emma Quayle

Lindsay Davenport is a modest champion in an age of egos and marketability. But her game has never gone out of fashion, writes Emma Quayle.

Lindsay Davenport put her three grand slam trophies on show last year, in a hidden hallway at her home in California. If she had her way, they would not even be there.

"It's certainly not what I'm showing dinner guests," the 28-year-old said yesterday. But when her husband suggested she would like showing them off to their children one day, and might as well put them out now, she decided she could compromise.

"I relented," Davenport said. "If it wasn't out in the open, then it was OK. That was a step forward."

It's not that the world No.1 is not proud of what she has done. Davenport can still remember exactly how she felt at match point in her Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open finals victories. She has fetched her Olympic gold medal from its safe just twice in the past five or six years, but to look at it is still a "surreal" experience.

"They're a huge source of joy in my life, in terms of my career," she said of her big trophies. "But that's certainly not how I measure my everyday life."

Davenport still wants to add to the collection, anyway. That is not how she felt at Wimbledon last year, when she was crushed by Maria Sharapova in their semi-final and realised there was not much point playing if she could not genuinely contend and felt retirement had almost caught her.

Then, something happened. Davenport can't really explain it but she found form, and consistency, and calm. She was a semi-finalist, or better, at 13 of 17 tournaments. She won seven titles and arrived in Melbourne with the No.1 ranking and an absolute belief she has at least one more big win in her.

So far, there is little reason to doubt her. Davenport had dropped just one set on her way to the fourth round, and was questioned only briefly by Karolina Sprem yesterday, winning 6-2, 6-2.

"I felt I did some things a lot better in terms of groundstrokes and being more aggressive," she said. "If my game's improving, that's always a good sign."

Much has changed in women's tennis since a teenage Davenport appeared on the scene in 1991; things are different to when she hoisted her last heavy trophy, at Melbourne Park five years ago.

There is more talk these days about what players wear, which she does not find entirely engaging. "I've always been someone that would rather have something comfortable and functional than worrying about what people are saying about what I'm wearing," Davenport said. "But 10 years ago there was no such thing as a conversation about what someone was wearing.

"Now it covers many headlines and many pages of the newspaper. And it's something these girls really enjoy, so I think it's great for them."

Davenport is more interested in where tennis will go once she leaves it. She can see particularly bright futures for Sharapova and Nicole Vaidisova, her 15-year-old third-round opponent. Today's young players were stronger and worked harder, she said, than they did when she came through.

But is there a next Davenport? "I don't know," she said. "I think more and more girls are hitting the ball hard off both sides. But I don't want to insult anyone by saying that."

Davenport, meanwhile, said a February or March start to the Australian Open would help more players bring their best tennis to Melbourne. She said fans would see better tennis if players had six or seven weeks at the start of the year to work themselves into ultimate form and fitness.

"I think it would be hard to expect all the top players to be at their very best at this tournament," she said. "It's, for me, a shame that this grand slam is so early in the year. I don't think it allows the best tennis to come out of some of the players."

Davenport said late February was an ideal time for the open, which will start one week later from 2007.

"It's just that you ideally would like to play a few more weeks before you hit a grand slam, not just the first or second tournament of the year," she said. "We're used to it. It hasn't been any different my whole career. But I just think that the players aren't going to be as sharp as maybe they are in the latter three slams."

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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