|
by Christopher Gerby Although she skipped last week's tournament in Moscow, citing fatigue, Lindsay Davenport will be one very busy player in the month of November. The 24-year-old will try to defend her titles at the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia and the Chase Championships in New York, represent her country at the Fed Cup final in Las Vegas, and finally end her season with a charity match against Monica Seles at the MS Tennis Classic. Speaking from home in an October 30th conference call, Davenport looked back on the year she's had and those events looming in the near future. "It's been a trying year, with a number of injuries and setbacks," Lindsay admitted, while adding that she didn't want to "harp on" the ailments. A recurring foot injury forced her out of the Olympics, but she was relieved to learn it wasn't a stress fracture. "That's exactly what I was thinking," said Davenport, who'd assumed in Sydney that she'd probably be out for the rest of the year. Instead, just a couple weeks of rest did the trick. "Some days it's a little sore, but overall it's been great and on the way back to 100 percent." A healthy Davenport reached the finals in Filderstadt (losing a thriller to Martina Hingis) and claimed the Linz title with her first 2000 win over Venus Williams. "Physically I had absolutely no problems," Lindsay said of her victorious week in Linz. "I felt great about my game and excited to end the season on a great note... I hadn't actually won a tournament since March, so that was wearing on my mind and annoying me a little." Next up on Davenport's itinerary is the Philadelphia event, held in the basketball gym at Villanova University. "It's been one of my favorite spots for the last few years. Ever since it moved to Villanova, it's been more exciting to play. It's a great atmosphere. It's small; the fans are really close to the court. It's a very vocal crowd." Even though she's disappointed that the tournament will cease to exist after this year, Davenport feels that ending the season earlier is in the best interest of all the players. "I think we still have enough tournaments here (in the United States)," she asserted. Another building which will see its last tennis next month is Madison Square Garden in New York City, site of the season-ending Chase Championships. "It's a great place to play," said Davenport. "As an American, it's like no other venue. The crowd really gets into it when there's a great match." However, the tournament moves to Munich in 2001. Davenport said "the WTA felt like they had gotten a great deal with the money, I think it's a million dollars more." Unfortunately, the move to Munich will likely exclude Monica Seles, who has declined to play in Germany ever since the horrific stabbing incident in 1993. "It's quite obvious that Monica doesn't ever plan to play in Germany again, so that's obviously going to be a problem." While Lindsay hasn't discussed it with Monica yet herself, she mentioned that "we share the same agent and he wasn't very happy about it." Davenport and Seles will be together in Las Vegas as teammates on Billie Jean King's Fed Cup team. Lindsay feels that having played alongside Seles and the Williams sisters at the Olympic Games will bode well for the team's chemistry next month, although at this point it's not clear whether Venus and Serena will participate. One of the U.S. team's potential opponents is Dominique van Roost, who recently announced her retirement but said she would play in Las Vegas if named to the Belgian squad. Davenport lost to Van Roost earlier this year at the French Open and Eastbourne, so I asked if she was hoping to get one last chance at revenge in Fed Cup. Lindsay laughed and replied, "It's so funny. We do play Belgium. I keep hearing that she's retired, but she's going to Vegas, so we'll have to wait and see if she plays singles. I'd love to play her again. I think I played her at the two worst times of my career, so I'd definitely like another shot at that." One motivating factor Davenport won't have next month is the world's # 1 ranking, which she believes is out of reach. "Hingis is a few hundred points ahead and I won these two tournaments (Philadelphia and the Chase Championships) last year," so the math precludes her taking the top spot. Nevertheless, Lindsay says she's "proud and happy with everything I did accomplish" in 2000. The injury woes have been a learning experience for the Californian, who might have to cut back on her schedule to stay healthy in the future. "I'm not sure I'm going to play doubles anymore. With injuries and other things in my life, I'm not sure doubles is that important to me anymore." However, if her November schedule is any indication, tennis fans will continue to see plenty of Lindsay Davenport. |