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Bad seed Women's No. 2 Davenport follows Sampras out
Posted: Wednesday May 31, 2000 09:39 PM
PARIS (AP) -- Lindsay Davenport, wincing from pain and moving stiffly from back spasms, was eliminated at the French Open with a first-round loss Wednesday to a grieving Dominique Van Roost. Van Roost, mourning the death of her mother, outlasted the second-seeded Davenport 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3. The match was Davenport's first since a back injury forced her to withdraw from a tournament at Rome two weeks ago. In the final set, she served erratically and pulled up awkwardly after many shots. "Unfortunately it was just a week too soon, I think," Davenport said. "I was feeling pretty good until the last game of the second set." The loss came in the only Grand Slam she hasn't won. But Davenport accepted the disappointment with a shrug and a smile, while Van Roost cried as she discussed the victory on her 27th birthday. "Normally I cry when I lose," she said, dabbing at tears with a tissue. "This is a little bit special for me. I knew it was going to be tough for me to be here Wednesday." The Belgian, a former top 10 player, is competing in only her second tournament since the death of her mother March 26. "It has been pretty difficult the last few weeks," Van Roost said. "It's a good comeback, I think." Following a day of rain that washed out all 64 matches Tuesday, play resumed in cloudy, 60-degree weather. Matches were held on 22 courts to get the tournament back on schedule. Early men's results were lopsided. Defending champion Andre Agassi beat Frenchman Anthony Dupuis 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, 6-4. "He said he had been waiting 10 years to play me and it was an honor to do so," Agassi said. "It made me feel old." No. 3 Magnus Norman, No. 7 Thomas Enqvist and two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter also won in straight sets. Former world No. 1 Marcelo Rios, trying to come back from groin surgery in November, retired after trailing Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-2. Fourth-seeded Venus Williams lost only two points in the first five games and beat Jana Kandarr 6-0, 6-3. No. 14 Anna Kournikova eliminated Vanessa Webb 6-4, 6-4. Davenport's match was only her second since early April. She withdrew from two tournaments because of an injured left ankle, defaulted in Rome because of the back injury and was unable to defend her title in Madrid. Now she hopes to be ready by late June for Wimbledon, where she's the defending champion. "I'm hoping in a month's time I can walk out there saying I'm 100 percent healthy," she said. Davenport looked merely rusty in the first set against Van Roost, losing serve three times before pulling out the tiebreaker. By the final set, Davenport could barely move, so she gambled on shots and finished with 59 unforced errors. Davenport said she could never remember quitting during a match, but she considered doing so in the third set. "I think my back just got fatigued and went into spasms again," she said. "It's a tough call to make about retiring or trying to play through it. I could have been 100 percent healthy and still lost to her. You never know." The 2-hour, 18-minute match also took a toll on Van Roost. She was bothered by cramping and called for a trainer three times during the final set. "I was still in a lot of trouble," Davenport said with a laugh, "unless she retired first." "I was OK, even with that problem," Van Roost said. The third set was on serve until Van Roost broke for the ninth time and a 4-2 lead. She then held serve twice to close out the win. After Davenport hit an errant return on match point and the players shook hands, Van Roost sagged in her chair and buried her head in a towel. Her husband and coach, Bart Van Roost, sat in the stands sobbing for several minutes. "It's good to have a husband who is also a coach, because he knows exactly the situation," she said. "There is a lot behind the tennis."
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