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Q&A Lindsay Davenport on the Olympics
Posted: Wednesday May 17, 2000 02:15 PM
Lindsay Davenport, ranked No. 1 in world on the WTA Tour, spoke with the USOC's Randy Walker during a media summit in Houston earlier this week about the upcoming Olympic Games. Question: How do you feel about the Olympics being so close to the US Open, how you're going to change from playing in the Open, going down to Sydney? Davenport: I think one of the most important things is that it is still on the same surface as what we will be playing on in New York. From the time the US Open ends on that Saturday, I think the tennis starts the following Tuesday. That gives us almost ten days to be able to get ready and get acclimated to the different weather and different surroundings that will be in Sydney. Fortunately, we already played a tournament there in January, so the players are all pretty comfortable with the stadium that we're going to be playing in. Question: Do you think the competition on the United States team will be more than the competition actually in Sydney? Davenport: Possibly. It's pretty amazing how many top players we have even in the top 15 right now. The competition to make the team is so strong, no one's really going to know who is on the team until July. I'm fairly confident that I'll still be part of the team based on where I am today, based on what I've accomplished the last nine months or so. But for who my teammates will be, I really have no idea at this point. Whoever makes it there, we're definitely going to have an extremely strong team. Question: Where does winning the Olympic gold in '96 rank among your career accomplishments? Davenport: It's actually at the very top. It's the first major competition that I won. Even though I followed it up with a Grand Slam titles, it's still the most memorable because it was my first bigger title and it was such awesome memories in Atlanta. You know, even the good things that have come since then, my emotions have never been topped by what I felt in Atlanta. Question: Tell us about some of the fun things you're looking forward to doing in Sydney, some of the experiences you're looking forward to having. Davenport: I think one of the great things about this venue that they have in Home Bush Bay is this time the Olympic village and the other venues are so close to the tennis. In Atlanta, the tennis was about an hour outside the city, so we were a little bit removed from all the other activity of the Olympics. I'm very excited to be able to stay kind of in the heart of what's going to be happening in the Olympics. It's always fun to go check out all the other sports and get to meet especially the American athletes and get to see what their lives are like, what kind of programs they have to follow for their particular sport. The same with just getting closer to the American teammates, being able to stay all together. Normal tennis tournaments we don't do that, to be able to kind of go there on your own. We have an Olympic coach who hopefully will be Billie Jean and get to really bond to the team that way. Question: Who do you expect some of the toughest competition will be in Sydney? Davenport: Well, actually I'm not sure who is going to be playing in terms of from other countries, so I'm not sure. Obviously, if Martina Hingis is there, if Conchita or Arantxa are there, Mary Pierce. Right now, I'm not so sure who will be competing. Question: Your reflections on Atlanta, was it a springboard to your success later in your career? Davenport: Well, winning in Atlanta definitely gave me so much confidence back in '96. I was still always hanging around the ranking of No. 10. After I won that, so far my career has gone up. That was really a springboard, just the confidence that it gives you to know that you can pull through a very tough tournament. Also just knowing that you have your first big win under your belt gives you more confidence when you go into other tournaments and just knowing that you can beat all the top players. It was just an incredible experience. Question: [In Atlanta,] did you march in the opening ceremonies and stay in the village? Davenport: Yes. In Atlanta I was in the opening ceremonies. I stayed in the village for a number of nights, but the nights before competition, I would stay out in Stone Mountain closer to the tennis because it was like an hour away. This time I'm really looking forward to, again, opening ceremonies, which was just an amazing experience, staying in the village the whole time. Hopefully go to closing ceremonies, which I missed last time. I'm looking forward to that this year. Question: Was the surface there as quick as the Australian Open surface? Davenport: No. In Sydney it was actually quite a bit slower than when we got to Melbourne for the Australian Open. It was pretty much a medium court. I anticipate it will be about the same. Question: Your mindset on defending your title. Davenport: It's a different experience because, you know, obviously in tennis we have to defend it the next year. Four years ago is so long ago. But there will definitely be a lot of pride in trying to win a gold medal again. If not a gold, any medal. Hopefully this year I'll be competing in the doubles and this will give me another opportunity to try to win a medal for my country. But I don't really look at it so much as defending my title, as looking at it as another opportunity to win a gold medal. Question: Can you reflect on the last year, particularly winning Wimbledon last year. Davenport: Yeah, the last year, actually year and a half, have just been amazing. Coming back and winning Wimbledon, a tournament that I had struggled on for so many years, on top of that beating Steffi Graf in the finals was really amazing. From there just being so consistent with my results, topping it off by winning Australia in January, being No. 1 now, it just seems like my results have just been really good every time I've been playing and coming back from a few injuries. You know, hopefully I can sustain this level for a couple more years. Question: What would it mean to win the French Open? That's the only Slam you haven't won yet. Davenport: Well, it would be quite an amazing feat if I was able to win the French Open, therefore winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold. It's definitely going to be my biggest challenge. It's a surface that I haven't spent much time on in my career; one that gives me a little problem with just the style of game I play. Clay is a very slow surface and gives players the opportunity to get a ball back, whereas on a hard court or faster surface, they wouldn't have that opportunity. But it's a great opportunity for myself to try and accomplish something that very few players in the history of the sport have been able to do. I'm going to give it my best shot this year. If it's not this year, I'll keep coming back and trying it every year. Question: Could you talk about playing doubles with Corina. Davenport: It's been great. I played with Corina since Wimbledon of last year. It's been such a great time. She's a very good friend of mine, which makes it even more special when we do well. I'm not really sure how the doubles is going to work in the Olympics. There's a lot of Americans ranked highly. Obviously I'd love to play with Corina. There's also a lot of great Americans that can play doubles very well. I'm just going to wait and see what happens in July. Question: Have you talked to Pete about his struggles with the French, has he given you any points on some of the things that he's tried that hasn't worked or some of his preparations for the French Open? Davenport: No, I haven't talked to Pete about the French Open. I think every player has to learn for themselves what works and what doesn't work. I think it's tough for any American to do well over in Europe, just because the surfaces are different. But we all try our best. Andre pulled through last year. We'll see what can happen this year. Question: What did you do with your gold medal from '96? Where is it? Davenport: It's actually in one of my drawers of clothes at home. I didn't want to put it in a safe deposit box or really leave it out. Hopefully I have it where I can find it sometimes. Question: Can you talk about Jennifer Capriati's comeback this year and potentially her being on the team?
Davenport: Yeah, her comeback has been quite remarkable this year. It's great to see a player be able to come back the way she did. As far as the team, I mean, she's obviously very close to becoming a part of it. But there's also the Williams sisters, Monica Seles. There's so many players right now, a lot of tennis really to be played until the end of Wimbledon when the team is named. It would be great if both of us could be on the team as the last two Olympic champions, but we'll just have to wait and see. Question: Could you talk about how the women only have three players per team as opposed to the men that have four players for the team? Davenport: Well, the men's tour went ahead in January and agreed to give ranking points for the men's competition there. When discussing it, the female players really felt that the Olympics were a special event, and the points that they wanted to give the Olympics were of a smaller level tennis tournament. All the women, top women players, all the women players, in fact, felt that the Olympics were the biggest event that we play, that it didn't really need ranking points or anything to make it more special. We thought it was better if it was more pure. Question: Are you doing any extra preparation on clay leading into the French Open since it's not your favorite surface? Davenport: Well, the last few weeks I've actually been struggling with a foot injury. I started practicing about two weeks ago. I'm over here in Europe a week earlier than I have been in years past. But really for me, I'm not really going to change my game much or try and do anything than what I normally do on a different surface. You know, hopefully the extra time here will get me more accustomed to it. The French Open starts actually two weeks from today, so hopefully by then I'll be ready to go. Question: Compare what the Olympics mean to you compared to somebody if they would win a gold medal as kind of an unknown person that only gets recognition once every four years? Davenport: Well, I mean, I think that's the beauty about the Olympics. It gives so many different athletes a chance to get into the spotlight, a chance to capture their dreams. For me, obviously tennis is a little bit more of a worldwide sport, more people know what we're used to doing all year long. I think that's really the great thing about the Olympics, it gives every player an opportunity to get a chance to be recognized in whatever sport they play. Question: Having won the Australian Open this year, do you expect a lot of support in Australia? Davenport: Well, hopefully. I've been in Australia many years and have always played well there and enjoyed everything about it. Obviously the Olympics brings in a little bit different picture when you have people from other countries that come there and fanatically support their players. The Australians are always a very friendly crowd. I think better to play in Australia than some of the other countries. Question: Talk about the transition you'll make from clay to grass, then how you like your Wimbledon chances this year. Davenport: Well, that's always the most difficult, and every player has to go through it, the change of surfaces so soon between clay and grass. It's so extreme from such a slow surface to such a fast surface. But every player has to do it, so I'm not alone there. But, you know, the grass treated me so well last year. I thought I ha a great preparation going back home to California, practicing on a grass court there. I'm going to try to do everything the same. I'm always happy when the clay season ends and I can be off the clay, and sometimes that's motivation enough to do well on the grass. Question: What other sports are you going to go see in Sydney? Davenport: I've always been a big volleyball fan because of my family. My dad played on the '68 team in Mexico. My mom does a lot of administrative work. Both my sisters play. I've always been around that sport ever since I've been born. That's always fun for me to follow. Obviously track and field is very exciting. The Americans with such a strong team with Michael Johnson, Marion Jones, all those great athletes, as well as basketball was, with the Dream Team, water polo. There's so many great sports that the Americans do well in that it's fun to support. Question: What athletes would you like to meet? Any one particular athlete that you'd like to meet in Sydney? Davenport: Gosh, I haven't really thought about that too much. I guess there isn't really one particular one. No one's coming to mind. I've always been fascinated by meeting all the different players from the different sports, seeing what their life is like, comparing it. But, no, I can't think of anyone in particular right now. Question: Are there any Olympic athletes that you've met that you've gotten to know pretty well? Davenport: From other sports, not too much. In Atlanta we didn't stay all that much in the Olympic village. We were going back and forth. The tennis, we really kind of stuck to ourselves. I'm looking forward in Sydney getting to know more athletes, being more familiar with the different sports, how they're doing. Question: How do you think the Sydney games will contribute to the advancement of women's sports like the '96 games in Atlanta? Davenport: The '96 games was a huge step, obviously with the soccer team, even softball, so many great sports that the women excelled in. You hope that it keeps going Olympics after Olympics and year after year. I think a lot of advancement has been made since the '96 Olympics, with the WNBA, World Cup soccer being so huge. You just have to hope that it keeps going like that in every different country we visit, the more people that get a taste of women's athletics, how great it's become. Question: What role do you see the women's coach taking? Do you expect Billie Jean to be named the captain? Davenport: I expect her to be named captain. I haven't heard anything to the contrary. She is our Fed Cup captain, was the Olympic captain in '96. It's a huge role. She has to take care of the four players there, really get us ready to play. For me, my own coach does not come. Billie always has been such a great coach, I'm sure she can handle all of us and give us great advice. Question: How is your injury going? How did it happen? How is the recovery? Davenport: I was playing the match at the Ericsson Open in Miami, I guess it was the end of March. In my semifinal match, it was a very long match. It was just really bruising of the top of the foot. But it actually took about three weeks before I was able to play without pain. That kind of detracted a little bit from my training. I had to pull out of two tournaments. But the last two weeks, it's felt a lot better. I'm playing my first tournament back this week in Rome. I'll see how it feels tomorrow after my match. Question: Which foot is it? Davenport It's my left foot. Question: What is your schedule going into The Open and the Olympics? Have you made any cutbacks on tournaments, et cetera? Davenport I cut out one, I think, in the summer months. I am playing -- after Wimbledon I'm playing a tournament in Stanford, then San Diego, I'm taking a week off, playing a tournament in Canada, then taking a week off before The Open. I'll probably go home for about a day before going on to Sydney.
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