It's Farewell, And Maybe Goodbye Too
Sun Herald
Sunday January 30, 2005
TENNIS fans might have seen Australian Open runner-up Lindsay Davenport for the last time in the singles draw at Melbourne Park.
Following her loss yesterday to Serena Williams in the final, 2000 champion Davenport refused to be drawn on whether she would contest a 13th open next year, telling the crowd only that she "hoped to see you again". The 28-year-old said after Wimbledon last year that she no longer felt the same excitement after victories, but claimed last week that some of that hunger had returned after a relatively injury-free 2004 and year-end No.1 ranking. "You know, I haven't gone there yet. You never know what's going to happen in a year," she said. "I hope if I'm back, I know that I'm healthy and feeling good and feel like I have a chance to win. In that regard, I do hope I'll be back." Davenport admitted that failing to hold her serve at one set up and 3-4 in the second was the pivotal moment. Williams had already served notice that she was back in the match after saving six break points in the fifth game of the set, but Davenport did not win another game in the match after Williams came back from 0-40 to go to 5-3.Davenport's normally reliable serve fell to pieces and Williams nearly doubled the percentage of first serves she landed from 43 per cent in the first set to 80 per cent in the third. "You know, I felt like I was playing well and in control ... of the match, moving the ball around well," Davenport said. "Then I had that horrible lapse ... made a few quicker errors [and] right there opened the door for her. She just kept going through it. "Everything started coming in a lot harder. She picked up her serve quite a bit and started moving better, just controlling the points a little bit more." Davenport played doubles and singles at this year's open, and said earlier in the week that the workload was not ideal. She slogged through three three-set singles matches and six hours and 37 minutes of doubles, and yesterday said that the court time had taken its toll in the loss to Williams. "It was definitely physical ... but I'm sure, mentally, [that] played some part in it too," Davenport said. "I think, more than anything, just especially this last week, [it was] just a lot of hours on the court, just a lot of close, long matches."
© 2005 Sun Herald
