US OPEN

September 3, 2005

Lindsay Davenport

Q. You just won in straight sets. Most of the Top 10 seeds have been winning in straight sets. Why do you think there haven't been a lot of competitive matches for the Top 10 seeds?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I don't know. There's always been a little bit of a dropoff sometimes between, I don't know what number the cutoff is and then the rest of the field. But, you know, it's hard to say. We talked about this the other day. I think the 32 seeds helps space people out a little bit. I don't know. It's been like this case for a little while now. Occasionally we have an upset, but not like the men's for sure.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That's pretty much all I do all day (smiling). Yeah, it's just really been an up-and-down struggle. It was doing really good and then two days ago it started to get really tight on me again. For the last 48 hours I've been getting treatment and then tonight it felt great again. I've gotten to the point where when I get to Grand Slams I do my little bit of practice and that's it. I don't feel I can risk anything by working out tons or practicing super hard, so I just kind of concentrate on my matches, hit a little bit on my day off, and that's really it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Hitting?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's been about like 45 minutes. Maybe one day it got to an hour because I hit a few more serves. But I don't know. Maybe that's not that little to some people, but to me it is.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was just when I was leaning over, like trying to pick something up. But then it was so funny, I was really concerned yesterday, and then today I wake up and it did really well. And it felt great tonight playing. I felt like I didn't have any limitations. But something I just have to really keep an eye on what I do and how I sleep and walking around, how I sit, all of that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I haven't seen him at all, no. I mean, I think just even though we've been playing on the same days, maybe different times or whatever. But watched him on TV.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I guess. I mean, I'm just going with what I've got and hopefully that's good enough. Like I said, as I've been playing my matches it's been feeling good. So every other day helps quite a bit. I'm sure I'll take it easy tomorrow and get ready to go again on Monday.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I mean, I did all the tests you can do, CAT scans, X-rays, MRIs. Just something happens to make my muscle spasm. Nothing structurally is wrong, which is really great news. Just is some kind of minor disfunction that then leads the back to getting extremely stiff and tight. But, no, I mean, that was the really good news, is nothing's wrong that requires any kind of long-term worry.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, she's really good. We've had a lot of tough matches. I guess I haven't lost to her, they said, on court. But really some close matches, obviously the Australian Open and some other matches at Indian Wells have been quite close. I think she's a really good player. I think she plays really well against me. I've seen her play other girls where I'm like, "That is not the girl that plays me." She takes my balls early. She redirects them pretty well. I feel like she plays well against me, so I know this is going to be no different and I'll have to play very smart out there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, gosh. I think, uhm, it's going to be really interesting on the top half. I couldn't tell you right now at all who's going to make it through on that side of the draw. I really think Kim, Maria and I think Venus has been looking really, really good. And then Serena will probably make it. So I don't really know what to say and I refuse to speculate on my half of the draw because, I mean, obviously I hope it's me (smiling).

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Above or below?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Oh, really? That's awesome (laughing). That's interesting. That's pretty rare. We've had a lot of young girls come up. I guess they just haven't quite gotten to the latter rounds yet or the veterans are playing well this year. But that's good. I do actually think we have a very good mix right now of all ages from 15-year-olds up to, you know, in the 30s that are playing very well.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It would be tough. Seems like a lot of them, with the exception of Martina who played singles a little bit later, have quit quite early. I mean, I know everyone was floored when Steffi quit at 29, and she was doing so well. I think it's hard to say. I don't know who would be left standing at 35. I couldn't say right now of all the top players, I couldn't tell you that I think one of them would be playing at that age.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think a little bit. I think that we do start earlier, except maybe Andre is one of the few that actually started in his teens. But, you know, I started playing pro events at 15. I think Graf was 14. Sabatini quit quite early because she was at 14. I think we started a little bit earlier, and I think that we just get burnt out a little bit earlier.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's really difficult, yeah. I was so happy. I mean, last night he took the red eye to come here just for Labor Day weekend to see me. You know, he's got to go back to work on Tuesday. That's the way our lives go. But it's extremely difficult, but we couldn't have it any other way. I don't think we'd be together if he just quit his job and carried my bags around the tour. That's our relationship. We're both very motivated, strong-willed people. It takes a huge effort and sacrifice on both our parts to make everything work, and it's always a work in progress and a discussion and everything that goes with that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. He wanted to, his parents were trying to get him to Hawaii. I'm sure he's sitting in front of the TV right now watching SC. I heard all about it, that I was playing at the wrong time tonight. Yeah, it's a big tossup in our household.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I do not play any other sport at a high level, but I am a huge sports fan. Not necessarily of the WNBA, but I'm a big fan of hockey. I've been forced to watch every SC college football game the last five years (smiling). We follow the Lakers. I follow the Angels a lot this past summer. They're obviously in the pennant race with the Oakland A's. Huge sports fan. My husband and I go to sport events all the time.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Once or twice, and then I stopped. My dad was pretty tough and he knew a lot about it and he was already on my case when I started to try to play at 8 or 9. I was like, "Yeah, probably not gonna happen."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, no, no. I like to watch it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think she's great. I really think that she's got a really complete game for, I believe, 16. I think that's the right age. She looks -- I mean, she hits the ball really well. She's got a big serve. She's athletic. She's got weapons. I think she's going to do very well. It might take her just a little bit longer to mature into her game than some other players. Like another younger player might have a better tournament here or there. But I think in the next year or so she's really going to take control and grow into her body and learn all her shots and really be for sure a Top 10 player. And we'll see after that how she develops.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: The hard courts here?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I'm liking them. Yeah, I'm liking them. I feel like you can really construct a point out there. I feel like it's not playing too fast. In some years, it's just been extremely fast. I've -- I like the court. I mean, the trickiest thing about that court is the wind. Once you get used to that and have some experience with that, it's no problem. But I think they're bouncing great. Great height and not too fast.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I can. I find it's doing great.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, people bring it up quite a bit to me. It's been great. I mean, it was probably one of the most difficult things as an athlete I've ever gone through, and at the same time one of the most rewarding things. I feel a tremendous amount of pride when I look back in that match, but you can't help but feel disappointment. But, no, I had people coming up all the time and even now, you know, they're still -- they seem very touched by what happened. I don't know if it's 'cause they feel sorry for me or they really enjoyed the match or whatever it may be. But for some reason, that match sticks out more in fans' minds than other matches that they've ever brought up to me.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I try so hard to look at the positives now. So I'm trying to say like, "Oh, it was wonderful to go through," but it totally sucked (laughing). You know, I mean, I would rather have that experience than to lose 2 and 2 and not have a chance, where I've been in Slam finals like that. But it was extremely emotional, and, you know, it's tough to overcome something you want so bad and get that close to. But I do think that there was a lot of great things that came out of that match.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, I had a lot of just kind of emotional experiences in the days after. Like, you know, obviously my husband was extremely proud and told me so and that was -- really meant a lot. Right after the match Corina came in and hugged me and said something that made me cry for a while. Yeah, I mean, the people -- I think more, I listen to people around me, and those people really touched my heart more so than a stranger would.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: In the tennis that I've seen here, and I've seen both of them play a little bit because it's been my days off, Venus looks like she's playing really well. It's such a different -- I don't even know what to say when they play each other. It must be so hard that it's pretty hard to predict who will win that match. If Venus comes through that match, I think that she's looking pretty good up there. This could be just an extremely difficult match and emotional for her, or it might not be. I don't really know what goes into it for both of them.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I know Kim's beaten her in Stanford, but I think Venus has beaten her quite a bit. I don't think Kim particularly enjoys playing her from past things I've heard. I mean, it's an extremely tough section of the draw. Whoever comes through that match, it just gets tougher and tougher for them, so we'll see what happens.