June 29, 2005
Wimbledon Semifinal Profile: Lindsay Davenport
"I can't even think really right now of stopping. I feel really excited to
still be where I'm at. I have a lot of opportunities ahead of me. I'm looking
forward to the challenges that are still presenting themselves."
WIMBLEDON, England - It's hard to imagine that just a year ago at this very
same tournament, Lindsay Davenport was contemplating retirement from the
sport of tennis. The world's fifth-ranked player at the time, the American
made it all the way to the semifinals at the All-England Club, but lost a
heart-breaker to a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova after leading by a set and a
break of serve. After the loss, the three-time Grand Slam champion wasn't
hesitant to admit that she was considering calling it quits.
"I hadn't felt like I really contended in a Grand Slam," said Davenport, who
at the time had not reached a Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 2000. "Even
though I was doing okay, I never really believed in the quarterfinals that I
was going to pull through and win. I certainly, after experiencing the kind
of success I had throughout my career, didn't want to be just out there to
make round of 16, quarters, hope to get a semi one time.
"But all of a sudden after I kind of opened my big mouth, I started playing a
lot better, started believing for the first time in a couple years exactly
what I was capable of doing."
After that loss, Davenport went on a tear on the summer hardcourt swing,
collecting four straight titles at Stanford, Los Angeles, San Diego and
Cincinnati, notching wins over both Williams sisters and just about every top
Russian, eventually carrying a 22-match win-streak into the US Open
semifinals, where she was hampered by a left hip flexor strain in a three-set
loss to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Davenport re-ascended to the
No.1 ranking on October 18th, 144 weeks after she had last held the top
ranking, and has not let go of it since.
This season has been another exceptional one so far for the 29-year-old
American, winning titles at Dubai and Amelia Island, and reaching finals at
the Australian Open, Tokyo [Pan Pacific Open] and Indian Wells. Seeded No.1
at Wimbledon for the first time in her career this year, she has enjoyed a
relatively uncomplicated path to her 17th career Grand Slam semifinal, her
fifth at Wimbledon. She had an easy time in the first three rounds, dropping
a total of just eight games against 80th-ranked Alina Jidkova, 107th-ranked
qualifier Jamea Jackson and No.30 seed Dinara Safina. In the fourth round,
she went the distance against No.15 seed Kim Clijsters, defeating the Belgian
for just the eighth time in their 17 career meetings by a score of 63 67(4)
63. Finally, in the quarterfinals, she dispatched Kuznetsova, the No.5 seed,
by a score of 76(1) 63 after saving a set point in the first set, closing out
the victory with her eighth ace of the match.
"I've always believed that if I can return and serve well and do those couple
of things well on grass that I'm going to be okay," said Davenport, whose
47-10 record at the All-England Club includes her title run in 1999, where
she defeated defending champion Jana Novotna in the quarterfinals and
seven-time winner Steffi Graf in the final, a runner-up finish in 2000 to
Venus Williams, and semifinal finishes in 2001 and last year. "I'm really
excited to have another opportunity, be able to go out there and try yet
again to get to the finals and go farther in a Grand Slam.
"I had such great opportunities last year, and it didn't quite work out for
me. But to come back again a year later and be in the same position is pretty
rewarding."
Of the four semifinalists this year, Davenport has the highest break point
conversion rate, winning on 60% of her opportunities, which shows that her
experience is helping her play the big points better. Other numbers for the
tournament that bode well for her include a solid 65% first serve percentage,
winning 78% of the points on her first delivery and 50% on her second, an
impressive 120-78 winners-to-errors ratio, which includes 22 aces to just 11
double faults, and winning over half of the points while receiving serve.
Next up for Davenport is No.3 seed Amelie Mauresmo, who has lost just 22
games en route to her third straight semifinal appearance at the All-England
Club. The two have met 11 times previously on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
After losing their first two encounters, Davenport has won eight of their
last nine, including the last five without the loss of a set. In their only
encounter at a Grand Slam, however, it was Mauresmo who emerged victorious,
winning 46 75 75 in the 1999 Australian Open semifinals.
"I do believe in her, and I do believe that she is good enough and strong
enough to one day come through in these situations," said Davenport on the
Frenchwoman, who lost to Serena Williams in her two prior trips to the
Wimbledon semifinals. "We'll see what happens if it gets close. I'm certainly
going to do my best and keep trying and hanging in there even if I'm down
against her.
"Having said that, she still hasn't come through. I think she's got a lot of
game, and most importantly I'm going to worry about that."
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