Returning with a vengeance

Davenport cruises in first tournament action since surgery

Lindsay Davenport, who next faces Jelena Dokic, is the only American remaining in her half of the draw. AP

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Lindsay Davenport insists she'll need several weeks to get back in top shape after nine months off the tour.

Her opponents suspect she's almost already there.

With her serve topping 105 mph, Davenport beat Anne Kremer 6-3, 6-0 Wednesday night to reach the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic.

Looking fit and light on her feet, Davenport was making her return to the tour following knee surgery in January. She lost her serve early but roared past Kremer by winning 16 straight points to open the second set.

"I was really excited before I got out there," Davenport said. "Win or lose, it was huge progress to get back on the court. It was a great evening -- one of the best I've had in a long time."

In the other match on the side-by-side courts at the Taube Family Tennis Center, third-seeded Monica Seles beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.

But the eyes of the sellout crowd were on Davenport, whose mobility increased along with the speed of her serve in the second set.

"Nine months is an extremely long time, but it might not be a problem for her," Seles said. "She's an extremely talented player. I think she'll get back on her game really quick."

Davenport needed just 45 minutes to dispatch Kremer, the world No. 21 who played two years at Stanford.

"She looked great," Kremer said. "It's hard to play when somebody is overpowering you all the time. I thought she was pretty close to her top level."

Davenport hasn't played a WTA event since November, when she injured her knee in a match at the Sanex Championships in Munich, Germany. She spent nine weeks on crutches, working out in a pool and watching the Grand Slam tournaments on television.

Davenport returned to action with two Fed Cup matches last weekend against Israel, but she'll need every match she can get leading to the U.S. Open in five weeks.

"I've never been happier to be back on the court," Davenport said. "I definitely shed a few tears in the locker room. This is where I've wanted to be since I got wheeled out of surgery."

She finished 2001 ranked No. 1, but has slipped to No. 9. Davenport received a special injury exemption to take the second seeding in the Bank of the West, where she won in 1998 and 1999.

Her quarterfinal opponent will be fifth-seeded Jelena Dokic, who beat Conchita Martinez 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 in an early match Wednesday. Dokic, ranked No. 6, dropped the first set in just more than 15 minutes, but recovered in plenty of time.

"I didn't run in the first set," Dokic said. "I wasn't in the match at all."

Seles, who won the tournament in 1990 and 1992, fought through a difficult match against Tanasugarn, a Thai whose court coverage caused problems for her opponent. Seles connected on just 55 percent of her first serves in consistent wind.

"It was a very tough match in tough conditions for me," Seles said. "I'm happy I started playing better in the third set, but it really could have gone either way."

In other early matches, seventh-seeded Daja Bedanova beat Tatiana Panova 6-3, 6-4, and Jelena Jankovic downed Sarah Taylor 6-1, 6-1.

In doubles, third-seeded Anna Kournikova and Meghann Shaughnessy beat Jill Craybas and Sarah Taylor 6-4, 6-0. Kournikova ended her five-match singles losing streak Tuesday night with a victory over Anna Smashnova.

 

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