THE SCOOP: MONDAY, AUGUST 13

Lindsay is over the hump … sort of

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Like Santa Monica Boulevard for a Lakers Parade, the water parted for Lindsay
Davenport in Manhattan Beach, when the drawmaker stuck Serena Williams, Martina Hingis and Monica Seles on the same side and presented Lindsay with the declining Nathalie Tauziat in the semis. OK, Davenport had a pretty tough quarter with Elena Dementieva, but the Russian is mired in a big time slump and is still riddled with a lousy serve and a negligible net game.

Still, beating up on Monica in the final for her ninth consecutive victory over her friend was a big title for Lindsay, who appears to have found a groove on her serve who was seeing the ball extremely well off the ground. If Lindsay plays like she did against Seles when she hits New York, another run to the final isn't out of the question.

However, whether she and her coach, Robert Van't Hof, can discover a way for
her to beat Venus (who skipped L.A.) is very much up in the air. How about
handcuffing Venus with blasts down the middle and following them to net about
15 times a match? Lindsay may not believe she has the speed to get up to the
checkered mesh quickly enough, but why not try it off the return and see what
goes?

If anything, Lindsay has to change tactics against Venus to give herself a
sliver of hope, or just pray that Venus serves terribly. But since that
hasn't happened the last three times they played, why count on it at all?
As an aside, Davenport pulled out of Toronto with recurring left wrist
tendinitis. Is there an injury she hasn't experienced?

THE WOMEN'S ACHILLES HEEL … THEIR FEET
If you were about to take the job as CEO of the WTA Tour there is one trend
that might scare your skirt off: Your stars are bedeviled with foot
injuries.

Three name players have been sidelined by stress fractures or stress
reactions in their feet this year: Monica Seles (back in action), Anna
Kournikova (out of action and week to week) and now Martina Hingis (out
until the U.S. Open).

Can these women's shoe sponsors do anything about it, or is the week-in,
week-out pounding just too much for certain player's feet?

Whatever the case, if tennisreporters.net were CEO, we would immediately fund a study to discover the answer. We're sure the Hingis/Kournikova-less promoters in
Toronto are thrilled about trying to sell-walk-up seats this week.