Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Lindsay Davenport has been writing an engaging feel-good story for some five months now. How often does a new mother cut short her projected maternity leave and rush back to the job, even if her vocation as a tennis player is, admittedly, a little more alluring than vetting health-insurance claims forms for cheating?
Everyone, it seems, has been gaga for Lindsay ever since the fall of 2007, when she began her astonishing -- and improbable -- comeback (she gave birth to a son, Jagger Leach, in June). And Davenport has lost just two matches this year. Maria Sharapova hammered her, giving up just four games, in the second round of the Australian Open. And in a real shocker, Germany's Sabine Lisicki upset Lindsay in a Fed Cup match in San Diego.
About two weeks ago in New York, Lindsay told me that she felt "weird" about those two losses. "For the most part, I've felt great, but something happened and I still don't know what. … I'm glad things went really well after the Fed Cup in Memphis, but that was a fast court, and indoors, which was really ideal for me. We'll just see what the rest of the year brings."
In other words, Lindsay herself isn't convinced that she is back in the mix at the top. In that regard, she's facing a real test here in Indian Wells at the Pacific Life Open. Given that Davenport will not play on the European clay-court circuit this spring, she needs to do well here, and in Miami in two weeks, in order to feel like a contender at the majors later this year. Remember, she's won just one match at the Grand Slam or Tier I level this year.
Monday, Davenport turned in a mixed performance in her third-round match against Yung-Jan Chang. She played a solid first set, but failed to put away her relatively unknown opponent. Before you could say "Anabel Medina Garrigues," they were in a third set, which Davenport ultimately won, 6-2. Davenport probably has to do better than that in what is both a bellwether event for her, and the closest thing she has to a home tournament.
A native of Palos Verde, a Los Angeles suburb, Davenport won the title here twice (in five finals), with a career singles record of 44-11. In 13 appearances here, she's failed to make at least the quarterfinals only twice.
"Yeah, for the most part, I think I've had [more] success overall here than most tournaments, won a lot of matches here," Davenport said after her third-round match. "Ironically, the conditions aren't the greatest for me. The court isn't fast. It's, you know, a little bit grainy and a little bit slow. I like the conditions when it's not so windy here, when you have that light, thin air.
"But I've always said this is my favorite tournament. I have a lot of friends in the area, family that comes here. I turned pro here. I have a lot of special memories in this neck of the woods."
Davenport can use those memories as fuel, and show that the feel-good story isn't finished yet.
Peter Bodo
