US OPEN

August 25, 2003

Lindsay Davenport

MODERATOR: Questions for Lindsay, please.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I was really, like, relieved when the match was over and was extremely nervous beforehand just trying to figure out how my foot was gonna be and if it would be okay. And then to be able to get through and get through pretty quickly, hopefully will help me in the long run.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think right now I'm just more worried about my health and how it's gonna be on a day-to-day level. I think maybe if I didn't have my foot and I was 100 percent, I would be a little bit more eager, excited, maybe thinking about that more. But at this point, the latter rounds have not even begun to cross my mind, and that's really the only -- when I would play them. So maybe in -- if it was a different time, it would be maybe a little bit more into them not being there, but right now it's not really affecting me.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. Well, as soon as I was done in New Haven, I actually drove here and saw the doctors here on Saturday afternoon, and they gave me another shot on Saturday.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: They could probably tell you exactly what it was. It was some kind of steroid antiinflammatory, legal (laughing). I'm not exactly sure if it was Cortisone or whatever. Then was pretty much just resting my foot and didn't do anything yesterday, just trying to let the Cortisone settle, settle my foot down. That was about it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: A little bit. I mean, it's just, you know, there a little bit. But, you know, I've had my third shot in like, you know, eight weeks, so that's about all I can do for it now, and just gonna go from here and do the best I can now.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it's hard. I mean, I felt extremely bad for everyone involved on Saturday, Jennifer included, the crowd included, you know, everybody. Was just -- you know, you always feel so bad when something like that happens, in a final no less. And then I was anxious getting here. You know, got the shot. That's never fun to go through. Then yesterday it was just trying to just recover and get ready to play. Today, I was extremely nervous and kind of edgy and trying to go out there, if it's gonna hurt, will it be okay? It's kind of a weird feeling not knowing. So relieved that the first round is over.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I agree with the Grand Slams, and they go with halves right away. They announced which half was playing before my foot really started to flare up at the end of last week. I agree there shouldn't be, you know, a precedent set for one or two matches. So it was already decided. If it had been maybe earlier last week when I had asked, maybe it would have helped, but it had already decided the top half was playing today.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, once I got out there, it was okay. First few games went by, I was playing okay, feeling okay. I thought I could get through. So, no, I mean, I was a little bit nervous beforehand, just seeing what was gonna happen.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It just happened so fast. The matches went extremely fast. I was, you know, in with the trainers most of the time, saw the doctor. Kind of just all over the place. Then it was time to play. Luckily, the matches went fast. I didn't have too much time to think about it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, it was getting more and more sore last week with playing a lot of matches in a lot of days. Hopefully here the day off in between will help me out a lot. But I don't know. I mean, sometimes it's okay for a long match. Other times it hurts in the first 15, 20 minutes. I can never tell. Hopefully, this -- you know, every time I've gotten a shot, the first few weeks have been the best weeks. Hopefully it will just give me a few more weeks.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That's it. They didn't want to give me the third. I had to beg them.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I warmed up out there today.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Probably, you know, the courts are 45 minutes. I think I stopped 5 or 10 minutes early. 35.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I think in my mind, I haven't quite thought about the tournaments I'm gonna miss yet. I think it's safe to say I'm not gonna be able to finish the year, the fall.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I've heard I could be back playing a tournament anywhere from eight to twelve weeks.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Back playing?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I'm gonna do the surgery and do my best to prepare to come back for whatever . I mean, I think realistically, LA or Philadelphia is not gonna be in the picture, I don't think. I don't know. I guess if it's like miraculous, really speedy. I'll do my best to see how I'm feeling in December, see if I'm ready for Australia.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, at this point I fully plan to try and be as ready as I can be.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I think it's good. Our tour is based on the WTA Tour, the Grand Slams are obviously a big part, but our tour is a huge part. I would prefer best of 15, maybe not 17. I think it's a lot of tournaments asking the players to play. But, no, I think the ranking system has been a pretty fair indicator the last few years.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think we encourage players to play more than eight or nine events. I think, you know, it's based on best of 17 tournaments. Who's ever done the best over 17 tournaments is gonna be No. 1.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I can't worry about those. The Slam, we've got men, we've got women. It's obviously disappointing on the women's side without our two biggest stars. But that doesn't go to my mind. My mind is, "This is my favorite Grand Slam. I want to do well here. Want to just play here basically."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Right. But if I take into the TV concerns, I mean... Got a lot of other concerns going on. TV, you know, there's the men here, like I said. There's Andre, Andy, there's some other girls here, too.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think it's just a feeling that we haven't had in a number of years. I think, you know, since, what was it, '99 when Serena won the first one, one of them's always been in the latter rounds. Now suddenly not to have both, it's a very -- I think it's disappointing for people. It's always fun when you win a Slam to then beat the best players. I, you know, I don't know. I think that Kim and Justine and Jennifer and still some really great players left. Unfortunately, it's always gonna be known as, "The one that the Williams didn't play."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It has, probably. Serena being out, that's a bad injury apparently that she has, needing surgery. Pete, no one can prepare for anyone retiring. It's disappointing to the tournament, especially when they're huge American names. For an American Grand Slam not to have any of those players here is disappointing.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think both of my parents were extremely athletic. Myself and my sisters were always told we had to do something every day after school. So I think it just encouraged us to always be active and to always be participating in sports. I was always told if I wanted to go to a good school, I'd better get a scholarship because they weren't paying for it. I was always kind of focused on my tennis to try and get me into a good school.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, I mean, I started playing tennis when I was six. I think that they, you know, were happy I chose tennis. They probably would have liked to see me play volleyball. I'm not sure, they were both involved in volleyball. Didn't care. I think when I was about 11 I was getting sick of tennis. They said, "That's fine. We'll drive you to something else tomorrow." I was like, "Oh, maybe not."

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I wouldn't say "well." We're friendly. I think the world of him. He's been very nice to me every time I've seen him and on occasions. I never called him up or...

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I mean, that's hard to say right now. But I think he's been, you know, the greatest men's player in the last, you know, I don't know how many years. His record's been amazing. I think, you know, he was always kind of compared and locked into a group with Andre, even for a couple years, Courier and Chang. But, you know, all his results and all his Grand Slam titles can speak volumes for what a consistent, great player he was. I think what an unbelievable ending last year, after everyone had written him off for probably two years, he just is so tough and just showed everyone wrong.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think she was great for the game. I'd never seen anyone sell out first-round matches in tournaments but Anna. The amount of fans she alone would bring in was huge. But, you know, we've gone through years and years of top players being injured, of important players being injured. She's another one. I don't know if everyone -- I have no idea if she plans on playing again or coming back. I think she's battling a lot of injuries the last couple years. More than anything, I think it's a shame because I think she had a lot of potential. I think if she could be healthy, she'd still be a good player.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Probably not much (smiling). Probably stick my foot in some ice buckets a few times and maybe watch TV and that's about it. I'm pretty low-key.