September 5, 2004
Davenport, Venus to Meet for 25th Time
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. - When the women's singles draw was made the week
before the US Open began, there was one potential fourth round matchup that
had everyone eagerly waiting the second week.
Now that matchup will become a reality as No.5 seed Lindsay Davenport and
No.11 Venus Williams will be on opposing sides of the net in the next round
following wins on Saturday evening.
Davenport won her 20th straight match with a 76(7) 61 victory against No.26
seed Elena Bovina. After getting settled into her game and surviving a close
first set tiebreak, Davenport had very few problems in the second set.
"I didn't feel like I played that well," Davenport said. "Not to take anything
away. I hate that, but I'm just being a little honest. I missed a lot of
returns just trying to get them into play. My forehand's been so great
all summer and I felt like I made a few kind of careless errors with that in
the first set."
Davenport will attempt to avoid those careless errors in her fourth round
match against Williams, who defeated No.20 seed Chanda Rubin, 76(4) 63.
"That was a very good preparation for me today," Williams said. "I feel like
I'm returning a lot better. Even in that second-round match when the girl hit
115, I was returning better when the ball was faster. My game's better. I'm
moving better. I'm not rushing as much."
This will be the 25th meeting between Davenport and Williams and the third
time at the US Open. Davenport defeated Williams on back-to-back weeks
earlier this summer in the Stanford final and in the Los Angeles semifinals.
Williams retired from the Los Angeles match in the second set with a wrist
injury.
After 24 previous matches, the two players are currently deadlocked at 12
wins apiece.
"For me, I just want to make sure I go out there and play well," Davenport
said. "That could mean I lose, that could mean I win. I don't know. That's
all I can control."
While Davenport stressed the importance of playing her game against Williams
and not letting control of the match slip away, Williams was clear that her
one objective was a win.
"Obviously, it's a big match," Williams said. "But in the grand scheme of
things, it is a match, and it's a match that I'll need to win to get to the
quarterfinals. That's how I see it."
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---禪心已作沾泥絮，莫向春風舞鷓鴣---
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