Tower of Power: Lindsay Davenport Cheering Thread

[janie]

Too bad she played like doodoo today.

[janie]

WOW! LINDSAY LOOKS SOOOOOO SHARP OUT THERE!!!

[Lee]

I'm pretty amaze by how sharp she is today without playing on any warmup tournament.

[janie]

I know! She doesn't often start a tournament in such dominating fashion. It's great to see! I feel a lot more excited about her chances here than I did before watching her play today. Woohoo!!

[Lee]

I hope Lindsay has as much confident as you do

[janie]

Dethroned Davenport declares herself fit after back injury

NEW HAVEN, United States (AFP) - US veteran Lindsay Davenport, on the verge of being dethroned as women's world number one, brushed aside any notion of retirement, declaring herself fit after a nagging back injury.

Davenport, who loses her top ranking on Monday to Russian Maria Sharapova, spoke here Sunday on the opening day of a 1.25 million-dollar WTA and ATP hardcourt tournament, the final US Open tuneup.

"I dont follow it. Its such a cyclical thing," Danvenport said of the rankings. "To be honest, I was surprised I was number one up until today."

The 29-year-old American, a four-time runner-up here in the past six years, suffered a back injury in the third set of her loss to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon women's final. She has been resting most of the seven weeks since.

"My back is feeling really great," Davenport said. "I didn't do anything but rest. It was a little difficult because Im such a hyped person. It was weird not doing anything. Now, Im back and ready to play for as much I can go."

Davenport pulled out of the Fed Cup semi-finals the following week and quit in her first WTA match with lower back strain after losing five games in only 18 minutes to Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld in July at Stanford, California.

"I probably came back too soon," admitted the three-time Grand Slam champion. "It was frustrating because the hard-court season is usually my best time of the year.

"But at this time of my career, Im not going to compete anymore if Im not 100 percent healthy."

Davenport, who lost January's Australian Open final to Serena Williams, then withdrew from events at San Diego and Los Angeles. But she brushed aside concern over the injury, saying past thoughts of retirement are gone.

"I cant foresee a time stopping at the moment," Davenport said.

[janie]

LINDSAY is on tv right now, playing this Anna C. A good chance to see what form Linds is in after so many weeks off -- go Linds! Up a break, 1-0

[Lee]

IMO, so far not so good.

At least the 2nd set looks better than 1st set right now.

[janie]

Yeah, and it wasn't much of a test, was it. But Lindsay did start cracking 'em in in the last few games, which was great to see. I can't believe how easily I forget how great she can play sometimes; it's stunning!

This tournament seems to be exactly what she needs to get back in some match rhythm without over-exerting herself. I just want her to STAY HEALTHY through the final and come into the Open on a high note.

And congrats to Linds, #1 again as of Monday, woohoo! Back where she belongs.

[Lee]

That's Lindsay for you. Play an awful service game at 3-2 to got broken and an excellent game to break back.

[Lee]

Lindsay plays better today vs Momo but still a bit rusty. Brilliant shots followed by spray shots and brilliant games followed by awful games.

Hopefully, her first few rounds opponents are not that threatenly and she has more match practices before the big matches.

[Lee]

Finally, Lindsay won a Pilot Pen title in her 6th trial

[janie]

I can't believe I missed it! I am so lazy anymore about finding out when tennis is on tv. Oh well, I did catch Lindsay's interview afterward. She sounds pretty happy about winning her first event back after so many weeks off. Best of luck to her in the next 2 weeks!

[janie]

'Li said Davenport was a role model for her. "I hope she wins this tournament," she said.'

[janie]

[/url]http://www.newsday.com/sports/tennis/ny-spwomen0831,0,724417.story?coll=ny-tennis-headlines[/url]

Fans finally warm up to Davenport It's about time!!!!

BY JOHN JEANSONNE
STAFF WRITER

August 31, 2005

About tennis and love: Sometimes the more accomplished players in this sport are cherished, and sometimes not. And sometimes the emotional attachments take a while, but for Lindsay Davenport, it has been worth hanging around.

Here she is at 29, fresh off last night's 6-4, 6-4 first-round victory over 23-year-old Na Li of China, again atop the world rankings and bent on "putting a huge effort to try to win a Grand Slam again, and I'll just keep plugging away in hopes that will happen."

And, in the process, the sport's appreciation of Davenport and hers of it have quietly deepened.

"I don't know if I came to the realization that I might be without it soon, or came to the realization that I better enjoy the last few years, however long they last," she said. "But it seems like I feel I handle things a lot better now and have enjoyment when I travel and go away to play."

Concurrently, there is the public's increased warmth toward her. "I think it's natural," she said. "Maybe it's that I'm older, or maybe they've seen me out there longer, or feel sorry for me, or like me. I don't know what it is."

Two years ago, Davenport was talking about retirement; she had a chronic foot problem that was limiting and frustrating her. Her championship trophies from the 1998 U.S. Open, '99 Wimbledon and '00 Australian Open were shrinking in the rear-view mirror and the sport's charisma inflation -- its appearance inflation -- was leaving her behind.

Fans and Madison Avenue embraced the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova; they even were reluctant to let go of Anna Kournakova, glamorous but 0-for-her-career in singles tournaments.

Then, after excruciating title losses at the Australian (to Serena Williams in three sets) and Wimbledon (to Venus Williams, 9-7, in the third) earlier this year, Davenport was hit with a back problem that virtually wiped out her hardcourt season until she won the New Haven tournament last week.

Davenport's hope now is be tough enough by the time the Open going gets tough. Two other top contenders in action yesterday also won in straight sets: No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo defeated Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-3, 6-2, and No. 7 Justine Henin-Hardenne cruised against Czech Zuzana Ondraskova, 6-3, 6-0.

Still, there seems no getting away from the superfluous popularity plots at big tournaments. Last week, journeyman men's pro Justin Gimelstob -- who, coincidentally, dates Davenport's best friend and doubles partner, Corina Morariu, last week posted a Web site blog blathering about how female players must "compete" at tournaments with the physical attractiveness of men's players' wives.

Gimelstob lost his first-round match to Max Mirnyi in straight sets yesterday, and he already had been personally taken to task by Davenport -- "I don't know if I can repeat everything I said to him."

More to the point: "I'm happy I'm here," she said. "I'm grateful I'm here. Hopefully, I can make the best of it."

[janie]

[Lee]

Lindsay won her 50th title





Lindsay Davenport of the U.S. waves sitting in a Porsche Cayman S sports car that she received for her victory at the WTA tennis tournament against France's Amelie Mauresmo in Filderstadt near Stuttgart October 9, 2005. Davenport won the match 6-2 6-4. REUTERS/Alexandra Winkler

[Self-Love, Baby!]

Title #50! And Porsche #3! What a great achievement, and I hope she continues to rack up the titles in 2005. If she wins her last 3 events of the year (Zurich, Philly, YEC), she can finish '05 with more titles than '04, but maybe that's expecting too much. Unfortunately, the LA event is way too slow for her - might as well be playing on indoor clay.

[anna]

Yay. Let's continue to dominate in Tier 2's and don't win anything that matters!

[janie]

Lindsay collects her FOURTH Zurich title, woohoo! What a great indoor player she is.

[Lee]

Lindsay is undefeated since USO

[janie]

I didn't realize that! But I remember other years where she has rolled undefeated through the European indoor season. She doesn't get enough credit for her indoor skilz. :lust:

Of course, here in the US, the tennis season always ends for the media on the final day of the US Open. It wouldn't matter if Mo Connolly rose from her grave to win Filderstadt, Moscow, Zurich, and Linz; we'd never hear about it here.

[janie]

Congrats, Linds, year-end #1 again!

[janie]

Win a few Slams this year, kid! Time's a-wastin'!

[janie]

from the NY Times:

Davenport Tries to Overcome Disappointment as Well as Injury

By LIZ ROBBINS
August 22, 2006

Lindsay Davenport is enthusiastically approaching what may be the last United States Open in her 13-year career. Her smile, however, does not reflect the summer of calamity she has had nor the bitterness she feels toward the leadership of women’s tennis.

Davenport began the year ranked No. 1, but she was sidelined in March by two bulging disks in her back. Her comeback from that injury has been complicated by a mysterious fall at her home in June and the WTA Tour’s refusal to grant her exemptions into tournaments.

“It’s tough to also enter the final stage of my career with such a bitter taste in my mouth about the Tour,” Davenport said Sunday in New Haven, where she was preparing for the Pilot Pen tournament, which began yesterday. “It’s a shame.”

For the first time, Davenport also described in detail the freakish accident that left her with a concussion and contributed to her withdrawing from Wimbledon.

She said she remembered getting out of bed one Friday morning at her home in the Los Angeles area. “The next thing I knew I was five feet from the bed, on the ground,” Davenport said. “I woke up, I was on my back, holding my head. I didn’t know what had happened. I must have hit my head on the dresser.”

She awoke to find her Rottweiler, Scout, standing over her with a tennis ball in his mouth. Her husband, Jon Leach, was already at work. Her mother, Ann, rushed over. Davenport, 30, did not go to a hospital until Monday — she even worked out Friday. During that weekend, however, the pain in her head was searing and the bruise on her right elbow from the fall turned blue and green.

Doctors said she had sustained a concussion and whiplash in the fall. Her elbow had to be immobilized. Davenport anxiously went through a round of heart tests. She declined a brain scan because she is claustrophobic, but she agreed to a week of bed rest.

“I’m over it,” she said Sunday, shrugging. “It’s the only time it’s ever happened to me. I don’t exactly know why I passed out, but I don’t think it’s anything serious. I feel great.”

She was cleared a week later to practice. But when Davenport sought to enter more tournaments to prepare for the United States Open, the chief executive of the WTA Tour, Larry Scott, denied her request. Scott said that she had not met the commitment requirements to be eligible for a wild card, and that he would not invoke a rule that would have given her an exemption.

Davenport, a popular player and the winner of three major championships, an Olympic gold medal and 51 WTA singles titles, considered suing the Tour.

“I have always tried to be very diplomatic and uderstanding,” she said. “I feel like he is using me as the example as what could happen to a few more players in a few more years.”

The United States Tennis Association spoke to Scott on Davenport’s behalf, asking that she be allowed to play in Montreal and in San Diego. The women’s tournaments this summer have been plagued by numerous star players withdrawing because of injury and breaking their commitments. Davenport, meanwhile, said she wanted to play.

“You’re talking about one of the greatest champions and ambassadors of the sport, someone on the player council for years,” said Arlen Kantarian, the U.S.T.A.’s chief executive of professional tennis, in a telephone interview yesterday. “This seemed to contradict what would have been in the best interest of the sport. They can’t let the rules get in the way of common sense.”

Last fall, Davenport volunteered to forfeit $500,000 of bonus money she receives for entering tournaments so that she could have a more flexible schedule, rather than make commitments she could not keep because of injuries. She said she was not looking for an exception, but believed that her veteran status qualified her under a specific rule to earn wild cards. But Scott interpreted the rule — created for Monica Seles so she could enter tournaments while she was semiretired — to exclude a player who began the season ranked No. 1.

Scott’s long-range goal is to enforce player participation so tournaments can better market their events. Davenport said the Tour must make its calendar more realistic.

“I feel bad about that, that she’s a little bit disheartened,” Scott said yesterday in a telephone interview. “But I’m frankly more concerned right now that we’ve got tournament directors and fans upset. We’re at a juncture where I’m sending a signal that we have to toughen up our entry and commitment rules.”

Ultimately, Davenport did not file suit. “It’s just not my style,” she said. “I didn’t want to be going to court instead of trying to enjoy the last few months, tournaments, or whatever it is.”

Davenport, ranked 11th, is scheduled to play Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia today in her first match since losing in the first round two weeks ago in Los Angeles. As for the United States Open (which she won in 1998), she said, “I’ve shot myself in the foot before, but chances are it’s the last one.”

She has nothing scheduled beyond next year’s Australian Open. Although she said she wanted to start a family, tennis remains paramount for now. “I’m just not ready for it to be gone yet,” she said. “However many more tournaments I play or however much longer I play, I don’t have anything to lose.

“In New York, I’m going to really try to enjoy the experience of being out there. That’s not something you can always do when you’re in the heat of things.”

[Pamela Shriver]

I don't understand why she'd keep training all winter to retire after one month of tennis, but okay.

And yeah, the Tour is fucked up.

[janie]

It sure is. I really had no clue it was this bad.

[shenaynay]

And yeah, the Tour is fucked up.

I'll side with the tour over a lazy, babbling, incoherent princess. I think we're on potential retirement #14 now.

[janie]

Lindsay beat #1, woohoo!

[janie]

Nice going, USTA. They've scheduled Lindsay to play on Monday. And they were trashing the WTA for not letting her take the WCs she wanted this summer? This is even worse. Assholes.