Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

'It just can't get any better'

Davenport glows one-on-one in Wimbledon spotlight

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Monday July 05, 1999 08:22 PM

Lindsay Davenport has won two Grand Slam singles titles. Gary M. Prior/Allsport

Lindsay Davenport has finally made history at Wimbledon. Davenport eliminated Steffi Graf in straight sets Sunday to win her first singles title at the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club. Following her victory, Richard Cooke of Britain's Independent Television (ITN) talked to the new women's champion.

Richard Cooke: Congratulations on your Wimbledon Championship. Has it sunk in yet?

Lindsay Davenport: It has but it probably takes a long time for these things to happen and I had to go play the doubles final and kind of been running around now. But it is truly amazing to me that I am the Wimbledon champion. I couldn't be happier.

RC: What does it mean to you personally?

LD: It's such an overwhelming feeling. I struggled for so many years on grass and to finally get better and to finally beat I think, the greatest grass court player along with Martina Navratilova and to beat Steffi and Jana Navotna to win the title, it just can't get any better.

RC: When you turned up here in south London two weeks ago, did you honestly think you could win the title?

LD: I never go in with expectations that, 'Oh, I can win it' or 'No I can't win it.' I always try to say, 'We'll see what happens.' I knew when I saw my draw, if I played well I could do well. But you never know with who you play and circumstances. But I knew I was playing well, I knew I was hitting the ball well, I knew I was feeling good. And that's really the first steps in believing you are going to win it.

RC: Take us through the match. You get a really good start and you never looked back.

LD: I broke the first game. She had a few game points and I managed to break. I mean it's pretty rare in women's tennis to keep that break for one set. And I served out the first set and it was over. In the second set, we stayed the same way until five-all. I got the break again and served the match out. To be able to hold your serve the whole match against Steffi Graf is very difficult to do. And that was the key, was my serve.

RC: What about the rain interruption. Did that affect you at all?

LD: You know, it actually helped me a bit. I went in to the locker room winning the first set, down 5-4 in the second, serving I think at 30-15. I got to sit down and go, 'Gosh, I'm so close. I can do this.' Where, when sometimes you are playing, it goes so by so fast. I really relaxed, surprisingly and I knew I was close and I knew I could do it. Obviously I wanted to do it in two sets and not three and it worked out that way.

RC: Is that when it really first dawned on you, when you were in the locker room while it was raining that you really could win it?

LD: I think so. Just looking at the scoreboard and I saw how close I was and my coach (Robert Vant Hof) came in and he's like, 'You know you're doing great. I can't believe you are playing this well in your first final.' He told me a few things that I think helped me and I was just able to play well coming back out.

RC: What about Steffi? A tough nut to crack. She's retiring now but she's really tough opposition isn't she?

LD: She is. She hasn't gotten any worse with age I don't think. She's been around for so long and won so many titles. I think it is great that she's able to go out on terms where she wants to go out. A lot of times, player's careers end with injuries and they can't help it. She's fought back through so many. She came back and won the French, obviously the finals here and I mean, we'll see her at the U.S. Open. She's just a great champion.

RC: What for you now Lindsay? Time to draw a breath or is it on to the next one?

LD: No, fourtunately I have a few weeks off. I'm going to take the next week and go on vacation so I can't wait. And then getting ready for the hard court season which I am very fortunate, is all in California so I get to stay near my house. And I'm really looking forward to going back to the (U.S.) Open. I mean, defending U.S Open champion and now the reigning Wimbledon champion. It can't get any better.

RC: And the difficult thing will be to come back here and defend it.

LD: I swear, it's going to be so much fun. You know that the women champion plays at Tuesday at 2 O'clock and this is such a different tournament to win, coming back as the defending champion. You're now a member of the club. You're in history now. I'm going to enjoy it so much next year, I can't wait.

 

Related information
Stories
Davenport wins 1st Wimbledon; Graf says she won't return Davenport completes double by winning doubles CNN/SI's coverage of Wimbledon 1999
Multimedia
Click here for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.