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THE SCOOP: THURSDAY, MARCH 6
Davenport sputtering with coaching change
Capriati tries out bro as coach; Mauresmo says she can be No. 1
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Siggi Bucher |
FROM THE PACIFIC LIFE OPEN IN INDIAN WELLS – Lindsay Davenport's coaching change from Robert Van't Hof to future brother-in-law Rick Leach isn't going as well as planned. After winning a three-setter over Daja Bedanova at the Pacific Life Open, the struggling Davenport said that losing her anchor may have a lot to do with her wayward game.
"There's no question that when I stopped with Robert that a piece of confidence was gone," Davenport said. "I relied on him for so long; he was a brilliant coach and I was very friendly with him. When you are going through a slump, I miss what I was hearing for the last 10 years."
Van't Hof decided to end the relationship to spend more time with his family.
The three-time Grand Slam champ is engaged to Rick's brother, Jon, but said that making wedding plans have nothing to do with her mediocre play. "I haven't been distracted by it at all," Davenport said. "We lived together for two years, so it's was a natural step for us. It's more losing my longtime coach and not hearing that familiar voice week after week."
Davenport also said that's she having a hard time staying motivated. She hasn't won a title since came back to the tour last July following knee surgery and although she's played well in spots, she's not racking up titles like she used to.
"I was really excited and motivated when I came back," the 26-year-old said. "Sometimes, you're really into it, are intense and want to do great and other times its a struggle to keep positive."
Capriati tries out bro as coach
Courtesy of
Pacific Life Open |
Three-time Slam champion Jennifer Capriati is trying out her younger brother, Steven as her coach this week. Whether it goes beyond Indian Wells is anyone's guess. Her father and regular coach, Stefano, is at home in Florida.
Steven has served as her hitting partner in the past. "Steven is very relaxed person and it's about keeping things changing," Capriati said. "I think change is good. Things can get stale."
What must truly getting old for Capriati is title-less streak, which has now reached 14 months. She played a decent match in beating Italy's Antonella Serra Zanetti, 6-4, 6-2, but it wasn't a particularly special effort.
Last year, Capriati failed to defend her Roland Garros title, when Serena punched her out in a three-set nail-biter. She was out thought by a net-rushing Amelie Mauresmo at both Wimbledon and the US Open, and at the season-ending Home Depot Championship, had Serena on the ropes before losing in three. The pressure unglued her a bit.
"There's higher stakes when you're playing the top players and there's the moments when it's going to test how good you are and see who's the best," she said. "No one should go out there with that on their mind. If your thinking all that stuff, who can play tennis?"
There were a couple of matches last year where there was more pressure and I didn't pull it out."
Capriati said that much of her success lies in her attitude and how free and easy she feels. If she's thinking too much about her results and her status in the tennis universe, she boils over.
"Sometime it comes on when you least expect it," she said. "Then it came out and I had a few bad losses. I didn't feel like I could play the best I could."
Capriati, who underwent eye surgery in the off-season to remove sunspots, started the year slowly, losing in the first round of the Australian Open. Two weeks ago, she fell in the Dubai Semis to Justine Henin. But she likes her current frame of mind.
"I'm going to take it one at time and not put expectations on myself, she said. "I've got no pressure on me because there are a lot of people ahead of me in the rankings.. My expectation is to not to expect too much from myself."
Yet Jennifer was ranked No. 1 and only Venus plays Serena as tough as she does. Capriati wouldn't mind clawing her way back to top of the heap.
"I would love a second chance to give it another shot," she said. "I think I'm even playing better than I was [when I was ranked No. 1]. Everyone's improving around you so automatically it makes you improve. There's not much I have to change and work on, it's just a few things that make all the difference on the top level. It's about being confident, sure about your self and feeling loose."
Mauresmo says she can be No. 1
Of course, the entire tennis universe revolves around the Williamses and since they are not in the desert, it's easier for the other elite players to strut their stuff. By the end of the tournament, we'll see who the legitimate No. 3 and 4 players are and whether they are playing well enough to scare the sisters in the Miami.
"It's a great opportunity to play through," Davenport said. "They've really been dominating the last year. Things are looking a lot better in the draw for us without them in the tournament."
Outside of Kim Clijsters, it could easily be argued that Mauresmo was the Williamses' toughest foe last year. On Thursday, she wasted Swiss 17-year-old Myriam Casanova 6-4, 6-0 and showed few signs off her old knee injury or the strained abductor muscle she suffered in Dubai.
The eighth-ranked Mauresmo isn't sure whether she is in good enough match shape to win the Pacific Life, but does believe she can eventually take over the top ranking.
"The [Williamses] brought the game to another level," said Mauresmo. "That's all right for me, because I've been training well. You have to do a lot of things and do it well to challenge them. But I don't wake up in the morning and say I have to go practice because I have to beat Venus and Serena."
Mauresmo, who reached both the Wimbledon and US Open semis last year before being stopped by – who else – Serena and Venus, and ended the year ranked career-high No. 6 and added that her commitment to the net has served her well.
"It was my best season ever," Mauresmo said. "I needed to go forward more and become more aggressive and that's worked out really well for me. There's always matches you could have won, but I feel like I was very consistent overall."
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