THREE-SET BATTLE GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE

Davenport vexes Venus in classic
Lindsay: 'Winning the Open is not out of the question for me'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Lindsay Davenport wins the first US Open Series tournament, a three-set classic over Venus Williams at Stanford.

FROM THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC – In so many ways, Lindsay Davenport's 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) stunner over top-seed Venus Williams to win her third Bank of the West title on Sunday was her biggest victory in the last 18 months. Davenport hadn't beaten a Slam winner or elite player since 2002 and in taking out Venus, showed a fighting spirit and court stewardship that has largely been missing from her game.

But before she went on court to face Venus, who she had lost to the last six times in a row, her husband, Jon Leach, and her coach, Adam Peterson, told her that the woman who has dominated her since 2000 could be had. But it was matter of Lindsay believing it herself.

"Jonny and Adam told me she hasn't been playing well these last few weeks, you can do it," Davenport told tennisreporters.net. "I remember watching her lose to [Karolina] Sprem at Wimbledon and [Anastasia] Myskina at the French. I could see her forehand started to break down again. You can tell when she doubting it, especially on her returns. I felt like she couldn't make four in a row and I haven't felt like that in a while."

Is Davenport now a serious contender for her second US Open title after winning this inaugural US Open Series event? She sure is. No woman has dominated the tour since Justine Henin-Hardenne fell ill in March. It's been wide, wide open. When the 28-year-old Davenport is believing in herself, she still has the weapons to knock down big-time players. The problem has mostly been her poor health over the past few years. If she can keep her knee and her now sore left wrist healthy all summer, she'll be a factor in NY.

"Winning the Open is not out of the question for me," Davenport says. "If anything, you see at these last two Slams that anything can happen. Sometimes I've brought my 'A' game to the semis and not to the final. This year I wanted a better level of consistency and this year, with the expect of one match, I've been able to do that."

FOREHAND FOLDS FOR VENUS
The final was one of the hardest fought contests the tour has seen all year and one of the most memorable of the 23 that these two former number ones have contested. So much of the result was based on how Williams forehand would respond under pressure. On many occasions, it did not, particularly in both breakers.

In the first-set tiebreak, she committed six unforced forehand errors. In the third-set tiebreak, she committed four.

Venus says she's not that displeased with side as long as she's hitting out on it because that way, she feels like it will be primed for the Olympics and US Open. But she wasn't always hitting out on it and was hitting off her back foot way too much.

"I don't know what was happening with it," said Venus, who was more upset with her performance in return games.
"My returns seems to go a millimeter out," said Venus who was four for 18 on break point conversations. "Normally I break her a lot more."

Davenport played a super-aggressive and heroic match, going for big second serves, blasting returns and consistently pounding Williams's forehand. After playing nearly two hours in 93-degree heat, it appeared that Davenport might wilt, but she stood strong. Williams held a break point at 5-5, but Davenport ripped a forehand crosscourt winner and eventually held to 6-5. In the final tiebreak, Williams forehand failed her once again. At 3-3, Davenport whipped a forehand down the line passing shot on the run and never paused, winning the match when Williams pulled a backhand wide.

LINDSAY TAKES THIRD TOURNAMENT
"I finally stepped in and hit that forehand and that gave me a lot of confidence," said Davenport, who won her third title of the year. "I just wanted to keep giving myself opportunities because she came up with big shots on a lot of important points. I worked so hard and totally earned the victory."

Venus was disappointed, but still took some positives away. "I know today wasn't my best day and I lost 7-6 in third," Williams said. "If I would have played decent, I would have won."

It was the fifth-ranked Davenport's first victory over the now 13th-ranked Williams since she beat her at the '00 Linz. Williams still maintains a 12-11 edge in their rivalry.

"I've been on the flip side of losing a lot of those." Davenport said. "In the third-set breaker, I hit some big shots. Mentally, I kept staying aggressive even though it brought out some errors. I still felt like I was still going for it. Having lost some may times to her and being able to beat her in a close match in a final feels really good."

Siggi Bucher

A faulty forehand buried Venus Williams at the Bank of the West Classic.

The chronically-injured Davenport has said that's she likely to retire at year's end, but doesn't want to focus on it now. She's got six weeks before now and the start of the US Open and there's no reason but to think of anything else.

"It's in the back of mind, but I'm not approaching it as if this is my last summer of hard court tennis," said Davenport, who's scheduled to play in Los Angeles next week and San Diego the week after that. "I'm trying to get momentum going for the US Open and do what I can on the California hard court circuit. If this does anything, it motivates and excites me to keep going. I feel like I can continue to do well the rest of the year."

Last summer, Davenport was a shadow of herself, crushed by Kim Clijsters at home in LA and again at the Open. But her cortisone-filled feet were killing her and she couldn't' move well.

"It took a toll more mentally," she said. "You want go out there and give yourself a chance, but I was shooting myself in the foot before the match even started. Against Kim at the US Open, I didn't even know what happened. I want to get rid of that."

Whether Davenport has her Slam winner's question back can only be answered in NY. But in snagging this new US Open series event, she certainly proved that she'll be a worth contender.

"My confidence is coming back," she said. "I never used to have days when I went out there like against [Elena] Dementieva at the French and get smoked. That's been really disappointing and hopefully that's ending. I don't care if I lose, I just want to play well."