Lindsay Davenport

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Lindsay Davenport
Country: United States
Residence: Laguna Beach, California, USA
Height: 6 ft 2½ in (1.89 m)
Weight: 175 lbs. (79 kg)
Plays: Right
Turned pro: February 1993
Highest singles ranking: 1 (October 12, 1998)
Highest doubles ranking: 1 (October 20, 1997)
Singles titles: 51
Career Prize Money: $20,391,184
Grand Slam Record
Australian Open W (2000)
French Open SF (1998)
Wimbledon W (1999)
U.S. Open W (1998)

Lindsay A. Davenport (born June 8, 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is an American and current World No. 1 professional female tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam tournaments: the 1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon, and the 2000 Australian Open. She also won the Olympic gold medal in 1996. Davenport was ranked as a #1 women singles and doubles player several times between 1998 and 2001, and twice again in 2004. She has been ranked number one throughout the 2005 season. She was the year-end #1 player in 1998, 2001 and 2004. She won three doubles majors: the 1996 Roland Garros, 1997 US Open, and 1999 Wimbledon. Her father, Wink Davenport, was a member of the US Olympic volleyball team in 1968.

Her game is built largely around her groundstrokes, which are considered to be among the most cleanly-struck in women's tennis. Lack of court speed is perhaps her greatest weakness, partly because of her size; at slightly over 6'2" (1.89 m), she is one of the tallest women ever to play top-level tennis. However, she has worked to overcome this by losing weight, overhauling her conditioning program, and becoming mentally stronger. She is an advocate for the mental game, as evidenced by her comments on the cover of "Smart Tennis: How to Play and Win the Mental Game."

She has a reputation amongst the tennis press, and thus much of the tennis-watching public, of being thoughtful, polite, and balanced, unlike some of her contemporaries. She is also known among fans and subject experts to be a good autograph signer. However, her relative lack of "charisma" (or, more likely, her less glamorous appearance than some others on the tour) has resulted in less attention being paid her than some contemporaries with inferior results (see Anna Kournikova).

Davenport married investment banker and former All-American footballer Jon Leach, brother of tennis player Rick Leach, in 2003.

Lindsay had an excellent year in 2004. She won a tour-high seven titles including four straight during the summer, and posted the most match wins on the WTA with 63. She finished the year ranked Number 1 for the third time in her career. Her success continued into 2005 when she made her first Grand Slam final, at the Australian Open, since the US Open in 2001. At a tournament in Indian Wells, California in March, Davenport made history by defeating world number three Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-0. It marked the first time that a player ranked in the top three had ever been "shut out" on the WTA Tour, and was also the first time Sharapova had ever lost 0-6 0-6.

Davenport bypassed the European clay-court warm-up season and went to the French Open without having played a professional competitive match for some weeks. She confounded expectations with a run through to the quarter-finals on her least favourite surface after four tough three-set matches, including a thrilling come-from-behind win against Kim Clijsters. Davenport lost to eventual runner-up Mary Pierce but returned for Wimbledon as the top seed.

She easily made it to the fourth round, where she was tested by Kim Clijsters again, but she came through in three sets to win her second successive match against the rejuvenated Belgian. Davenport then sailed to the semi-finals, where her match against Amelie Mauresmo was interrupted by rain and was completed over the course of two days. Davenport eventually defeated Mauresmo 6-7 7-6 6-4 and faced 14th seeded Venus Williams in an all-American final. The thrilling epic found Davenport leading most of the way including holding one match point at 5-4 final set. Williams went on to win 4-6 7-6 9-7 in the longest and possibly one of the most dramatic Wimbledon finals in history. In that match, Davenport sustained a serious back injury while leading 4-2 40-15 in the final set. The injury forced her to withdraw from Fed Cup competition. Davenport returned to the tour in Palo Alto, California. After reinjuring her back in a warmup just hours before her match, Davenport retired while trailing 5-0 in the first set. This back injury then forced her to withdraw from other hardcourt events in Carlsbad and Los Angeles.

Davenport returned to the WTA Tour in August, winning her comeback tournament in New Haven, Connecticut without dropping a set. Davenport went on to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open, where she held a match point on Elena Dementieva before falling 7-6 (6) in the third set. Davenport lost the #1 ranking following the event.

After the upsetting loss at the US Open, Davenport went on a tear during the fall season. She captured title in Bali without dropping a set, and subsequently qualified for the WTA Tour Championships. She then won the title in Filderstadt, Germany, defeating Amélie Mauresmo in the final for the second year in a row. The win made her only the tenth woman ever to win 50 career WTA singles titles.

In Zurich, on October 20, 2005, Davenport defeated Daniela Hantuchova 3-6 7-5 6-2, saving two match points. By winning the match, Davenport was assured of recapturing the World No.1 ranking from Maria Sharapova the following week. In subsequent matches she inched past Francesca Schiavone 6-4 4-6 6-4 and defeated seventh seed Anastasia Myskina 6-0 6-4 to reach her 6th Zurich final in as many visits and set up a rematch of the 2002 final with Swiss Patty Schnyder, which she had lost in a close encounter. She overcame the sixth seed 7-6(5) 6-3 for her fourth title at Zurich and her sixth title of 2005, next only to Kim Clijsters' nine. It was also the first time Davenport had saved match points en route to a victory since the 1999 US Open. The Zurich Open victory leaves her with 11 Tier I titles, the most amongst active players.

In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put her in 29th place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.

Contents

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Titles (86)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (3)
WTA Championships (1)
Olympic Gold (1)
Tier I Event (11)
WTA Tour (34)
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Singles (51)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 1993-05-17 Lucerne, Switzerland Clay Nicole Bradtke (Australia) 6-1 4-6 6-2
2. 1994-01-03 Brisbane, Australia Hard Florencia Labat (Argentina) 6-1 2-6 6-3
3. 1994-05-16 Lucerne, Switzerland Clay Lisa Raymond (USA) 7-6 6-4
4. 1995-05-22 Strasbourg, France Clay Kimiko Date (Japan) 3-6 6-1 6-2
5. 1996-05-20 Strasbourg, France Clay Barbara Paulus (Austria) 6-3 7-6
6. 1996-07-22 The Olympics, Atlanta, USA Hard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (Spain) 7-6 6-2
7. 1996-08-12 Los Angeles, USA Hard Anke Huber (Germany) 6-2 6-3
8. 1997-02-17 Oklahoma City, USA Hard Lisa Raymond (USA) 6-4 6-2
9. 1997-03-03 Indian Wells, USA Hard Irina Spirlea (Romania) 6-2 6-1
10. 1997-04-07 Amelia Island, USA Clay Mary Pierce (France) 6-2 6-3
11. 1997-08-18 Atlanta, USA Hard Sandrine Testud (France) 6-4 6-1
12. 1997-10-13 Zurich, Switzerland Hard Nathalie Tauziat (France) 7-6 7-5
13. 1997-11-03 Chicago, Illinois, USA Carpet Nathalie Tauziat (France) 6-0 7-5
14. 1998-02-02 Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Japan Carpet Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-3 6-3
15. 1998-07-27 Stanford, USA Hard Venus Williams (USA) 6-4 5-7 6-4
16. 1998-08-03 San Diego, USA Hard Mary Pierce (France) 6-3 6-1
17. 1998-08-10 Los Angeles, USA Hard Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 4-6 6-4 6-3
18. 1998-08-31 US Open, New York, USA Hard Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-3 7-5
19. 1998-10-12 Zurich, Switzerland Hard Venus Williams (USA) 7-5 6-3
20. 1999-01-11 Sydney, Australia Hard Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-4 6-3
21. 1999-05-17 Madrid, Spain Clay Paola Suarez (Argentina) 6-1 6-3
22. 1999-06-21 Wimbledon, London, Great Britain Grass Steffi Graf (Germany) 6-4 7-5
23. 1999-07-26 Stanford, USA Hard Venus Williams (USA) 7-6 6-2
24. 1999-09-20 Tokyo, Japan Hard Monica Seles (USA) 7-5 7-6
25. 1999-11-08 Philadelphia, USA Carpet Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-3 6-4
26. 1999-11-15 Chase Championships, New York, USA Hard Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-4 6-2
27. 2000-01-17 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-1 7-5
28. 2000-03-06 Indian Wells, USA Hard Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 4-6 6-4 6-0
29. 2000-10-16 Linz, Austria Carpet Venus Williams (USA) 6-4 3-6 6-2
30. 2000-11-06 Philadelphia, USA Carpet Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 7-6 6-4
31. 2001-01-29 Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Japan Carpet Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-7 6-4 6-2
32. 2001-02-26 Scottsdale, USA Hard Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 6-2 6-3
33. 2001-06-18 Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass Magui Serna (Spain) 6-2 6-0
34. 2001-08-06 Los Angeles, USA Hard Monica Seles (USA) 6-3 7-5
35. 2001-10-08 Filderstadt, Germany Hard Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 7-5 6-4
36. 2001-10-15 Zurich, Switzerland Hard Jelena Dokic (Serbia & Montenegro) 6-3 6-1
37. 2001-10-22 Linz, Austria Carpet Jelena Dokic (Serbia & Montenegro) 6-4 6-1
38. 2003-01-27 Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Japan Carpet Monica Seles (USA) 6-7 6-1 6-2
39. 2004-02-02 Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Japan Carpet Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-4 6-1
40. 2004-04-05 Amelia Island, USA Clay Amelie Mauresmo (France) 6-4 6-4
41. 2004-07-12 Stanford, USA Hard Venus Williams (USA) 7-6 5-7 7-6
42. 2004-07-19 Los Angeles, USA Hard Serena Williams (USA) 6-1 6-3
43. 2004-07-26 San Diego, USA Hard Anastasia Myskina (Russia) 6-1 6-1
44. 2004-08-16 Cincinnati, USA Hard Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 6-3 6-2
45. 2004-10-04 Filderstadt, Germany Hard Amelie Mauresmo (France) 6-2 RET
46. 2005-03-05 Dubai, UAE Hard Jelena Janković (Serbia and Montenegro) 6-4 3-6 6-4
47. 2005-04-04 Amelia Island, USA Clay Silvia Farina Elia (Italy) 7-5 7-5
48. 2005-08-20 New Haven, USA Hard Amélie Mauresmo (France) 6-4 6-4
49. 2005-09-13 Bali, Indonesia Hard Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-2 6-4
50. 2005-10-03 Filderstadt, Germany Hard Amélie Mauresmo (France) 6-2 6-4
51. 2005-10-23 Zurich, Switzerland Hard Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 7-6 6-3
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Performance Timeline

Tournament 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 Career
Australian Open F QF 4r - SF W SF SF 4r 4r QF QF 3r - - 1
French Open QF 4r 4r - - 1r QF SF 4r QF 4r 3r 1r - - 0
Wimbledon F SF QF - SF F W QF 2r 2r 4r QF 3r - - 1
U.S. Open QF SF SF SF QF F SF W SF 4r 2r 3r 4r 2r 1r 1
WTA Tour Championships RR DNP 1r F 1r W F 1r QF 1r F - - - 1
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Doubles (35)

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See also

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External links



Women's Tennis Association | World No. 1's in Women's tennis
Tracy Austin | Jennifer Capriati | Kim Clijsters | Lindsay Davenport | Chris Evert | Steffi Graf | Justine Henin-Hardenne | Martina Hingis | Amélie Mauresmo | Martina Navratilova | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Monica Seles | Maria Sharapova | Serena Williams | Venus Williams
All-time leader Steffi Graf spent 377 weeks on top of the rankings.


Tennis at the Summer Olympics | Olympic Champions in Women's tennis
Charlotte Cooper | Dorothea Chambers | Marguerite Broquedis | Suzanne Lenglen | Helen Wills | Steffi Graf | Jennifer Capriati | Lindsay Davenport | Venus Williams | Justine Henin-Hardenne
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsay_Davenport"
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