 Davenport at the 1998 US Open Lindsay Davenport (born June 8, 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is an American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam tournaments: the 1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon, and the 2000 Australian Open. She also won the Olympic gold medal in 1996. Davenport was ranked the world's #1 women's singles and doubles player several times between 1998 and 2001, and twice again in 2004. She was the year-end #1 player in 1998, 2001 and 2004. She won three doubles majors: the 1996 Roland Garros, 1997 US Open, and 1999 Wimbledon. Her father, Wink Davenport, was a member of the US Olympic volleyball team in 1968.
Her game is built largely around her groundstrokes. Lack of court speed is perhaps her greatest weakness, partly because of her size; at slightly over 6'2" (1.89 m), she is one of the tallest women ever to play top-level tennis. However, she has worked to overcome this by losing weight and overhauling her conditioning program.
She has a reputation amongst the tennis press, and thus much of the tennis-watching public, of being reasonably thoughtful, polite, and balanced, unlike some of her contemporaries. She is also known among fans and subject experts to be a good autograph signer. However, her relative lack of "charisma" (or, more likely, her less glamorous appearance than some others on the tour) has resulted in less attention being paid her than some contemporaries with inferior results.
Davenport married investment banker and former All-American tennis player Jon Leach, brother of tennis player Rick Leach, in 2003.
Lindsay had an excellent year in 2004. She won a tour-high seven titles including four straight during the summer, and posted the most match wins on the WTA with 63. She finished the year ranked Number 1 for the third time in her career.
Grand Slam titles (3)
1998 U.S. Open Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-5
1999 Wimbledon Steffi Graf 6-4, 7-5
2000 Australian Open Martina Hingis 6-1, 7-5
See also
|
