PILOT PEN TENNIS

August 23, 2002

Lindsay Davenport

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That's nice of her. Yeah, I do feel like I am getting better. I feel like this has actually been my best tournament so far. I feel like I am playing better. There's no question about it and playing more matches definitely helps that. But again, I mean, I think she played really great matches all week and I do believe that you do sometimes just run out of gas, especially after a really tough match like she had last night.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think so. I think it's always tough to come back from a night match regardless. On top of that mentally she had a very big win for herself and physically it sounded like it was a very long match and it is tough to come back no matter -- it doesn't matter what kind of shape you are in. It's just trying to get to bed, getting back up and warming up and then going back out there and facing someone totally different, it is very hard.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I was -- I know she had a long match last night and I know Martina doesn't hit as hard as I do, so I wanted to try and overwhelm her with pace in the beginning -- not in the beginning, the whole match, try and overpower her. And she started off really well. I thought she played well. But I kind of hung in there in the beginning and then the tide just turned. I was able to really then go for my shots, and I was hitting them well today.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Today, I mean, it started off where she was hitting a lot of great up-the-line shots and serving a lot better. As the match went on she started not to serve as well. I think that the pace of my shots probably was a factor.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It's true. I definitely was not expecting that at all, and I was not sure how it -- the whole comeback would pan out, and I was definitely expecting to take my lumps in the beginning and take some losses that otherwise I might not have gone through, if I had stayed healthier or wasn't used to going through, but I think that I did everything really appropriate in my comeback where I was feeling okay in June physically, but I didn't feel like my tennis was where it needed to be and I felt like going on the grass could maybe jeopardize my knee so I made the tough decision to wait another four, five weeks and in the long run that maybe helped me with my confidence just being able to practice more on it and get more confidence in my knee .

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: That's funny. (Laughs) Yeah, he was my coach from about 9 to about 13. So I don't know how many of those weaknesses -- But no, I am sure he watches me play on TV and has some opinions. But, you know, I didn't feel like today I was ever really threatened and I felt like I was in control of the match and in control of a lot of the points.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I do like playing here. I like the court a lot. I came here one other time I think lost to Graf in the semis maybe. Quarters or semis.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: But I do. I think that the conditions are fantastic. It's great to be in a great stadium, and, you know, one year I tried to play the Canadian Open because I had never played there and thought I should give that a try, and been back here a couple years since so I think I like playing here.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I mean, I have seen them both play. I have played them both. I have played Hantuchova just once, but I have seen her play the last few weeks because she has been in my part of the draw. I watched her play. Lord knows how many times I have played Venus. I think I know what to expect in either opponent.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It certainly would be nice. Right now, I am looking at it like this has been another great week and I am in another final and I definitely would not have thought that a few months ago but at some point I have to get over that and say okay, you have got start winning these tournaments. And definitely if it's Venus, start competing a little bit better with her and start playing a little differently. A few weeks ago I was totally not ready for the level of tennis that she was at and compared to the level of tennis I was at. Hopefully some things have changed in the last two or three weeks and hopefully I can do a lot better.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I have no idea. A lot of that's mentally too, and when you are playing a lot and winning a lot, you obviously feel like you can do it a lot more than if you have been off and you are unsure at your level. I hope so. I do feel like this week I have played better tennis than in California.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I definitely didn't stay away from it. I would watch it. I would not plan my day around matches but if I was at the gym I would always turn it on to see if one of the matches were on and when the Slams were going on obviously they are on all the time so I would definitely turn it on when I was working out. I have always really enjoyed watching tennis from when I was little and I like watching tennis now. So I would -- I watch quite a bit. I didn't really watch in the latter rounds of tournaments, for whatever reason. It was more easy when it was like on all day long.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I have taken a lot of pride in the fact that how well I have been able to come back how tough that really is to do. And it is amazing to me that I have done this well and it definitely gets exciting but like I said, after the first few weeks I was like okay, now I should be doing better and -- but it is good. Other players have struggled coming back from injuries, and I feel like I worked so hard to be able to come back and play well, and I think that it's really paying off right now.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, to win a tournament and to beat the best players is definitely what you want to do. So that would be fantastic. I would take that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was about the end of May, I think around the 25th or so which I was given the clear where I could go 100% on my leg and really try and switch directions and try and move on it. From there you still start off slowly doing that. It was a few weeks and probably around like the middle of June, a little bit before the middle of June that I really felt like I could run finally without thinking about my knee and that you know, would only give me a week or a little over a week to really prepare properly for Wimbledon and just, you know, just didn't feel right about doing that. It was a hard decision, but in the end, it wasn't so hard because I just knew in my heart I wasn't ready and I did not want to go over there just to play and not play well. So then looking at the schedule just worked out perfectly where then I had about 4 more weeks until I would start again. I knew by that time I would be ready to go.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Since I have been able to play I have played very consistently. I have played as much as I can. This is my fourth tournament in five weeks so I have definitely tried to catch up in the match department. But yeah, I mean, someone that's played all year-round someone that's completed obviously would -- would have an advantage in terms of they are way more match-tough, way more big situation tough. But at the same time, I mean, I can hopefully be a little bit fresher the rest of the year than maybe some of the other players. I don't know how exactly that will pan out but hopefully I will have a lot more energy and excitement to play after the US Open and in the fall than some of the players that have played all year.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: She started off well, so obviously in my mind I thought okay, she's going to be playing well today. Then it just kind of happened. Sometimes you don't really have time to think about it so much, you worry about your own game out there. But I got up two breaks in the first set and closed it out pretty easily and had a break, lost it early, but then got it right back. I just felt like I was playing well, and the match was really in my hands; if I kept going at the level I was going that I would have a comfortable day out there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I don't have to ice it. There has been no swelling really since a couple weeks post surgery. But I have exercise that I do. When I am on the road I only do them twice a week; at home four times a week. And get the trainers to make sure it's loose, and get it mob'd (sic), so the whole leg is moving correctly. It is not too time consuming right now.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: CPM - I am not sure what that stands for - constant passive motion, I don't know for sure. But all I would do is straighten my leg, then bend it, straighten it, bend it. And it was to really get the cartilage there used to the knee bending and getting it to glide and get used to some movement on the knee since I was non-weight bearing. But the rehab was probably the toughest stuff I have done in my life. There's a lot of pain involved the first few weeks, especially. And I am not so great with a lot of pain. So that was tough. Then it was all about trying to get stronger and stronger.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was just a pretty much about everyday. And every day thing for, you know, it consumed most of the day. It was always a thought to go do something or what is next, whether it was exercises or the pool or exercises again or in the machine, it was just all consuming.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Eight hours a day for eight weeks.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Today was funny I did go for one return, it was out and my knee kind of locked up and every time I think oh, please don't, but it held. But in terms of -- my knee consumes very little of my thought per day. I really feel like my knee is 100% and unless another accident happens it should continue to stay that way. You can never be sure you are never going to reinjure something, but it is fine.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I would read a lot of magazines and I would sleep in it for some of the hours. I would try and get about four hours in, sometime during the day and then go back when I would sleep and I'd always wake up in the middle of the night look at the clock and try and count the hours and then as soon as I got eight hours in I would take my leg out of it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, it was -- yeah, like my leg would be just up just go like this. Like that (stretched out) It was really hard to fall asleep. I got used to it. It took a few weeks. You could set the speed so it could go really slow. But it was -- it was terrible, anyone who has had to do it will tell you, I mean --

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Eight weeks. As long as I was non-weight bearing.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: (Laughs) I know. He did tell me however many hours I spent in the pool I could take away from the machine, so like a couple of days I would spend like two hours in the pool then I'd only have to do like 7 or 6, whatever. So I would try hard to be in the pool but pretty soon you get sick of the pool as well.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I would not lie to you but it surprised me. I mean, I swear, I was fine and I don't know where it comes from because typically I am a little bit spoiled obviously with everything that goes along with it, and never had to deal with something like that, and, you know, a couple of weeks into it, he said to me, he goes, I think I am more negative than you, I don't know how you are doing all this. I said yeah, I don't know. I don't know how either. I am more negative now than I was for those like 8 or 10 weeks where I was just miserable, but no, I mean, I was almost relieved when the doctor told me exactly what I needed to do and what it would entail because it was such a long process last year of dealing with a lot of pain and dealing with the unknowns that it was almost a relief that I found out something could be done to correct it. I knew it would be tough, but yeah I don't know, it was amazing.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. I was relieved almost to have kind of a break from the game and I told my agent the day I went in for surgery that I am not doing any press until June, until I know -- he was like, oh, are you sure, and I would just -- wanted a break from it all. I could care less if no one wrote about me or talked about me. I was ready for a break away from it all. They obviously deserved everything that they got. They are fantastic players, and have made our Tour way more exciting now than it has ever been. Fortunately I never have those thoughts occupy my mind.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Naturally it would be a big upset to play Hantuchova in the Finals, I mean, I would be surprised if she did win. I think she's a great young player, but when you are dealing with someone who's been as consistent as Venus has the last few years I think as competitor you expect to play Venus. Venus has a great serve; she's very -- she does everything well- very athletic, hits the ball hard. For me I think that I need to compete better against her than I have, especially a few weeks ago and hopefully I am a little bit more ready like I said for some of the pace of her shots and some of the gets that she does get. But it's really important to be able to serve well and be able to hold your serve and kind of stay with her. If she's breaking you, you know it's going to be tough to break her. So you have are kind of at a loss there, you really have to try and stay with her by holding. Daniela, I mean, she's a young player, playing well. She has a good serve as well. I think that I have -- the one time I played her I thought her backhand was a lot better than her forehand. I don't know how much that's changed lately. But it would almost be the same sort of match as Venus. They play kind of similar, but Venus I think is right now a better player but you never know what happens.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think there's no question when you do something so long that you kind of think like well, this is -- just keeps going. A lot of times you find that the girls retire a lot earlier than the men. Sabatini was quite young. Graf was reasonably young, 28 or 29. It's tough to keep going all those years when you start at a young age. But I was setting timetables like last year okay, three more years or whatever it was, and definitely that's gone out the window and I have no idea how much longer I will play for. I am definitely looking forward to next year and finally the first time in my career not having any points to defend, just going out there and playing going to be low in the rankings but can work my way up. From there I have no idea what will happen. I mean, I think now that it will prolong my career. As far as how many years, I don't know.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I had a pretty big hitter in Mauresmo the other day. Either one - even Martina isn't that hard a hitter, so there's nothing I could have done about that in the draw. But that's just what you get thrown some times. The first two girls I played had really hard, good serves. So I will just have to go with that and hopefully get a good hard warm-up from my coach.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, (laughs) then she would be out here all night. I know. Sometimes you do think about that, like, oh, she would be so hired hopefully. But I wouldn't mind having another chance at Venus. I was so disappointed the way I played against her a few weeks ago. I know I could do better than that. You learn after all these years, you don't -- if you hope one way it always workS the other way. So I will just see what happens.