May 29, 2005
Davenport's Comeback Defeats Clijsters, Earns QF Spot in Paris
PARIS - World No.1 Lindsay Davenport continues to find way to keep going at
Roland Garros, evident by Sunday's come-from-behind victory against No.14
seed Kim Clijsters.
For the fourth time in as many matches, the world's top player was pushed to
a three-set match and once again prevailed, ending a six-match losing streak
to Clijsters, 16 75 63. It's the first time Davenport has reached the
quarterfinals in Paris in six years.
"I'm really a little bit amazed I was able to pull that match out today,
considering how bad I was losing and the previous records against her and it
being on clay," Davenport said.
Davenport was joined in the quarterfinals in the top half of the draw by
No.21 seed and 2000 champion Mary Pierce, no.16 seed Elena Likhovtseva and
Bulgaria's Sesil Karatantcheva.
Despite holding the top seed, history probably didn't point to Davenport
being the favorite in this match. She had dropped the last six meetings
against Clijsters and hadn't defeated either of Belgian's top two (Clijsters
& Justine Henin-Hardenne) in her last 10 attempts.
Clijsters soared out ahead early in the match, taking the first set in just
20 minutes. She also had built a 3-1 lead in the second set before the match
began to turn the other way. Clijsters started struggling with unforced
errors as Davenport pulled even for 3-3.
From there, Clijsters struggled to keep her forehands in play and also was
bothered by multiple double faults as Davenport completed a remarkable
turnaround to reach the final eight.
Davenport has fallen behind in three of her four matches this week. She
dropped the opening set against Katarina Srebotnik in the first round and
also to Shuai Peng in the second round. She was also pushed to three sets in
the third round against Virginie Razzano.
"I don't really know what the secret is to coming back in these four matches,"
Davenport said. "But it helps after the first two were under my belt. I felt
still like I had a chance in all of them to hang in there and you never know
what can happen. I guess I'm just used to being down right now. I'm still
playing well when I'm down."
Clijsters reached the fourth round without having to face much of a test,
recording straight sets victories against qualifier Meilen Tu, Ludmila
Cervanova and No.20 seed Daniela Hantuchova. But the lack of a strong
challenge and also a three set match didn't help Clijsters against Davenport.
"It changes so quickly in tennis," Clijsters said. "That was the frustrating
part is that I felt like I was controlling the rallies in the first and
beginning of the second set. Then all of a sudden, you just lose all the
feeling of your strokes. That's the most frustrating part of it is that I was
trying. I was trying to work, work into my rallies. That's tennis sometimes.
It can be very frustrating."
Davenport will next face former champion Pierce, who reached the quarterfinals
in Paris for the first time in three years with a 61 16 64 victory against
No.8 seed Patty Schnyder.
Despite breezing through the first set, Pierce fell apart in the second as
Schnyder leveled the match at a set apiece by taking set No.2 in 31 minutes.
Pierce built a 5-2 lead in the third set before Schnyder saved multiple match
points to get within 5-4 before the Frenchwoman finally put things away in 2
hours, 3 minutes.
No.4 seed and last year's runner-up, Elena Dementieva, was eliminated in
three sets on Sunday, falling to countrywoman Likhovtseva, 76(3) 57 75 in 2
hours, 49 minutes.
Likhovtseva will next face 15-year-old Karatantcheva, who continued her dream
run in Paris on Sunday as she reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal
with a 75 63 victory against Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi.
"I still didn't have much time to think," said Karatantcheva on what it means
to be in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. "I mean, five minutes ago I was
playing on the court and I was leading 5-2 and I was scared to just win. I
was basically scared to win. Just the thought of me being at the quarterfinals
in Paris, it was just too scary for me."
Karatantcheva, who won the junior title at Roland Garros last year, continued
her remarkable run, which now includes wins against Alyona Bondarenko, No.19
seed Shinobu Asagoe, and her stunning three set victory against No.11 seed
Venus Williams.
Despite the loss, Gagliardi leaves Paris with a few milestones to take with
her. She won her 300th career singles match with her second round victory and
her fourth round appearance was the first in 33 Grand Slam events.
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