No fear
Grand dame Davenport aims for second grand slam win
Posted: Sunday January 17, 1999 10:00 PM
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Davenport's world changed last September when she broke through and captured the U.S. Open in New York AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Lindsay Davenport kicks off the Australian Open on Monday, surrounded by the grand dames of the grand slams and knowing that, at last, she's one of them.
No one intimidates her any longer. No one holds a psychological edge against her before the match even begins.
Not two-time defending champion Martina Hingis, whom Davenport beat in straight sets Saturday to capture a tune-up tournament in Sydney.
Not Steffi Graf, who has four Australian Open titles sprinkled among her 21 grand slam wins, and who also lost to Davenport in Sydney.
Not Monica Seles, who has never been beaten by anyone in four visits to Australia.
Not Conchita Martinez, the former Wimbledon winner who dispatched Davenport in the semifinals a year ago.
For half a dozen years since her debut Down Under as a chubby teen, Davenport has arrived slimmer, faster and better each time. It helped, but not enough. On a high-bouncing, slow rubberized court perfectly suited to her baseline style, Davenport would find ways to lose and leave in disappointment.
She handled defeat graciously, just as she always handled her victories in lesser tournaments and her one golden triumph at the 1996 Olympics.
But the world changed for the 22-year-old Californian last September when she broke through finally, delivering on all her promise, and captured the U.S. Open in New York. That helped catapult her to the No. 1 ranking a month later -- the first time an American-born woman held that spot since Chris Evert in 1985. At year's end, Davenport was still No. 1, and the victory in Sydney solidified that spot.
With those credentials, Davenport doesn't have to fear anyone. She knows it, and her opponents know it. Once, Graf would have had her beat before the coin toss, or at least the first time Davenport ran into trouble during the match. Now, Graf knows that Davenport is capable of playing tough tennis under pressure, finding ways to win, getting to balls that used to skip past her, and enduring even a long three-setter.
When they played last week in Sydney, it was Graf who was breathing hard, and Davenport who kept pummeling winners in a straight-sets victory.
Davenport's first match in the Australian Open, against No. 25 Gala Leon Garcia of Spain, will give an indication of how ready she is to win her second grand slam title. With only a day's rest following the Sydney tournament, Davenport wants to avoid long early matches in the Australian that can take their toll later on.
Reigning Wimbledon champion and No. 3 seed Jana Novotna also is in action on Day 1, as are No. 5 Venus Williams and unseeded Jennifer Capriati.
Among the top men, No. 2 seed Alex Corretja of Spain opens play in the stadium against Japan's Takao Suzuki, and U.S. Open champ and No. 3 seed Patrick Rafter of Australia plays Germany's Oliver Gross.
Defending champion Petr Korda gets the day off, though he remains the center of a drug controversy. On Sunday, the ATP Players Council voted to increase the first-time penalty for certain classes of drugs, including anabolic steroids, from one year to two years.
Korda, who tested positive for the steroid nandrolone after Wimbledon last year, avoided even a one-year suspension when an appeals panel agreed with him that there had been "exceptional circumstances" in his case.
Many players have criticized that decision, saying they don't know what the circumstances were, and look to another appeal of the case by the International Tennis Federation to the Committee for Arbitration in Sports in Switzerland to settle the issue.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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