Wimbledon 2004: Davenport in Mood to Dispatch Teenagers

Even when Lindsay Davenport was No1 in the world a few years ago she was never fashionable; she was head prefect of the WTA Tour, full of all-American goodness but not the stuff of headlines and fashion shoots.

Now, unnoticed, she is heading towards another Wimbledon final - or about as unnoticed as a woman can be at almost 6ft 3in and with a serve that makes line judges flinch. Yesterday she beat Karolina Sprem 6-2, 6-2 in 51 minutes and tomorrow she will play the darling of these lawns, the more mobile Maria Sharapova, in the semi-finals.

When Davenport was Sharapova's age, 17, she was tall, gauche and overweight and experts shook their heads and wrote her off as a grand slam title winner. She has won three of them: the US in 1998, Wimbledon in 1999 and the Australian in 2000.

Now Davenport is 28 and those same experts are saying she does not have another major title in her. She is very rich, recently married and with enough articulate intelligence to find a career elsewhere.

She was always quarter-final material but now she is something more. When she won here five years ago she did not drop a set. She has not lost one so far this time, either.

In fact she has lost only 18 games in five matches. And the serve that anchors her heavyweight game is as fierce as ever, backed up by crisp volleys and deep groundstrokes.

Sprem, another of the bright young things and the conqueror of Venus Williams, disguised her forlornness with smiles but conceded: "I felt when Lindsay was standing on the court it was too small for me. I didn't have the space to play.

"Lindsay played really great, unbelievable. She can win this tournament, that's for sure." She even declined to make an excuse of the sore ankle that had troubled her in the previous round. "My ankle was perfect."

The absence of the Belgian players and the early exit of Venus Williams means that the bottom half of the draw has gaped open for Davenport.

She looks leaner and fitter and there have been no signs of the knee and foot injuries that hampered her in the past.

Davenport won the first set in 20 minutes, with the overwhelmed Sprem grunting so much she might have been Monica Seles. She broke Sprem to love in the opening game and again in the fifth.

In the second set she again broke in the fifth game and repeated it for 5-2 before serving out for victory. The match seemed to pass the Croatian by. She played plenty of big shots but most of them went out.

Davenport said: "I feel really good. Every match has been in two sets and, most importantly, I've served well in every match. That's saved me a lot.

"I can't remember how well I was playing five years ago. But I'm doing all the things I need to do to succeed on grass.

"Karolina is very young but she can obviously play great tennis. I thought I handled the situation very well. I got on top early in both sets and didn't allow her to dictate play."

Sprem's wonderful adventure was never going to be extended here, however hard she tried; sometimes she went down so low on her forehand that she ended up on her haunches.

Davenport did not deny this could be her last Wimbledon. "There are a lot of factors," she said. "I still love to play tennis and I still treat it very seriously.

"The injuries curtail the excitement to play. Some days you don't really feel all that eager to practise. It becomes harder and more tedious."

Of her date with Sharapova, she said: "Maria has a big game and I'm a huge fan. She serves well and hits good groundstrokes. I will be looking to serve well and keep the balls hard and deep. It's not really a strategic game plan; it's just the basics I need to do well."

The bad news for Sharapova is that Davenport does those basics extremely well.